Landlords and strata corporations

When renting in stratas, tenants and landlords must follow provincial legislation including the Strata Property Act and regulations, the Residential Tenancy Act and the strata's bylaws and rules. Stratas are not allowed to have rental-restriction bylaws but they can have bylaws which restrict or ban short-term rentals.

Learn more on this page:
Renting to tenants in strata housing
Strata bylaws and rules
The rights and obligations of landlords
The rights and obligation of tenants assigned rights by the landlord and long-term tenants
The rights and obligations of strata corporations
Strata corporations cannot screen tenants

Renting to tenants in strata housing

Renting in strata housing is not the same as renting in non-strata titled housing. Landlords and tenants need to comply with strata legislation including signing a “Form K: the Notice of Tenant’s Responsibilities” and following the strata's (or section's) bylaws and rules.

Strata bylaws and rules

Landlords, owners, tenants, visitors and occupants must follow the strata's bylaws and rules. Strata bylaws and rules can affect owners and tenants in many different ways including: restricting or banning pets, banning smoking anywhere in the strata corporation including people's homes, even specifying the type of window coverings.

To help ensure a successful tenancy, landlords must give their tenants a copy of the strata's (or section's) bylaws and rules; this is also a legal requirement.

Strata bylaws can vary widely and can also change over time.

Strata corporations and sections can fine strata owners and tenants who don’t follow the bylaws and rules.

A landlord can evict a residential tenant if the tenant repeatedly or continually contravenes a reasonable and significant strata bylaw or rule.

If significant strata bylaws are repeatedly or continuously broken by a tenant, the strata corporation can take steps to evict the tenant. The Residential Tenancy Branch Policy Guideline #27 (updated November 21, 2022) has more information on this.

The rights  of landlords

Under the Strata Property Act, a landlord is:

• an owner who rents a strata lot to a tenant or
• a tenant who rents a strata lot to a subtenant

A landlord has a right under the Strata Property Act to:

• assign all or some of their powers and duties to a tenant, except their responsibilities in relation to fines or other costs for the breach of bylaws or rules by a tenant
• collect any sums from the tenant paid to the strata corporation for
  - fines the tenant owes to the strata corporation for bylaw or rule breaches
  - remedying a tenant’s contravention of the bylaws and rules

The obligations of landlords

Under the Strata Property Act, a landlord must: 

• give tenants a copy of the current bylaws and rules and a “Form K: the Notice of Tenant’s Responsibilities”
• give the strata corporation a copy of the Form K, signed by the tenant, within two weeks of the renting to the tenant
• pay to the strata corporation the tenant’s fines and any costs incurred for remedying a contravention of the bylaws or rules, if required by the strata corporation
• pay the tenant’s reasonable moving costs up to a maximum of one month’s rent if the tenant ends a tenancy within ninety days of learning of the contravention due to the landlord failing 
  - to provide the tenant with a copy of the bylaws and rules or
  - to provide a copy of the signed Form K to the strata corporation
• to not interfere with the strata lot, common property, or land that is a common asset in a way that would be unreasonable if a three-year lease or longer has been entered into with a tenant

The rights and obligations of tenants assigned rights by the landlord

Landlords may assign any of their rights and obligations to tenants provided that they give written notice of the assignment to the strata corporation stating:

• what rights and obligations are assigned to the tenant
• the name of the tenant and
• the time period that the assignment is effective

[Exception: The owner’s responsibility to pay the cost of remedying contraventions or fines on behalf of the tenant cannot be assigned to the tenant.]

Tenants who are family members

Prior to November 24, 2022, tenants who were family members of an owner (as defined in regulation) automatically had all the rights and obligations of a long-term tenant. If this outcome is still desired, the owner would need to assign these rights and provide a written notice to the strata corporation.

The rights and obligations of  "Long-Term Tenants”

Residential tenants under a long-term lease of three or more years have the same rights and obligations as owners (the landlord) under the Strata Property Act, regulations, bylaws and rules (with the exceptions noted below) for the duration of the lease.

Before exercising any rights of the owner (landlord), long-term tenants must provide the strata corporation with written notice of: the time period of the lease; and their name.

Furthermore, long-term tenants may never, without the consent of the owner, exercise any right of an owner to:

• acquire or dispose of land
• cancel or amend the strata plan
• do anything which would affect the owner’s interest in the strata lot, common property or land that is a common asset

Some of the specific obligations of long-term tenants are:

• to pay strata fees
• to pay special levies that are due within the term of the lease and
• to maintain and repair parts of the strata lot and limited common property that the bylaws make the owner responsible to maintain and repair

Some of the specific rights of long-term tenants are:

• to access and obtain strata corporation records
• to attend and vote at special or annual general meetings
• to receive strata corporation notices and
• to be eligible for election to the strata council

The rights of strata corporations

A strata corporation has the following rights under the Strata Property Act in relation to tenants:

• it may fine a tenant or assess against a tenant the cost of remedying a contravention of a bylaw or rule
• it may collect any sums from the tenant or the landlord and owner owing to it by a tenant for a bylaw or rule breach
• it may grant or remove a grant of short-term exclusive use of common property to a tenant
• it may evict a tenant for repeated or continuing violations of a significant bylaw by giving notice to end the tenancy. Residential Tenancy Branch Policy Guideline #27 (updated November 21, 2022) has more information on this.

A strata corporation has the following right under the Standard Bylaws (which may be amended) in relation to tenants: it can by majority vote, ask a tenant to leave a general meeting if the tenant does not have the right to vote.

The obligations of strata corporations

Under the Strata Property Act a strata corporation must:

• give the landlord a copy of any written notice provided by a tenant which gives notice of the assignment of powers and duties under a lease of three years or more
• provide for inspection or provide copies of all records, bylaws and rules to a tenant who has been assigned these rights by the landlord
• provide former tenants, who were assigned the landlord’s right to inspect records and documents as referred to in Section 35 of the Strata Property Act, access to the records that relate to the time of their tenancy
• provide access to the bylaws and rules to the tenant even when the landlord has not assigned the tenant the right to inspect or obtain records or documents of the strata corporation
• give notice to tenants of all meetings when the tenant has been assigned the owner’s right to vote and the strata corporation has received notice of the assignment

A strata corporation has the following obligation under the Standard Bylaws (which may be amended): it must allow, if permitted by the chair, a tenant to participate in discussion at an annual or special general meeting even if the tenant does not have the right to vote.

Strata corporations cannot screen tenants

Under the Strata Property Act, the strata corporation cannot:

• screen tenants
• establish screening criteria
• require that it approve of tenants
• require the insertion of terms in tenancy agreements or otherwise restrict the rental of a strata lot. 

However the strata corporation can pass a bylaw to restrict or ban short-term rentals by either owners or tenants.

References to Strata Property legislation:
Sections of the Act: 1, 28, 35, 36, 45, 54, 76, 110, 124, 125, 129-135, 137, 138, 142, 145-148, 164, 165, 173, 174, 173, 175, 177, 178
Standard Bylaws (which can be amended) 3, 4, 7, 26

Find it fast: a handy site map listing all the strata housing web pages.

The information on this website about strata housing is provided for the user’s convenience as a basic starting point; it is not a substitute for getting legal advice. Learn more about the site’s purpose and limits. The content on this website is periodically reviewed and updated by the Province of British Columbia as per the date noted on each page: November 26, 2022.