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MAINTENANCE, REPAIRS & SERVICES:

§         Your landlord must keep your unit in a decent state of repair, and must comply with all health, safety, and housing laws.

§         Heat in your home must be kept to 20°C or 68°F

§         You are responsible for the general cleanliness of the unit and anything that you or your guests break on purpose or by accident.

§         You are not responsible for regular wear and tear. “Regular Wear and Tear” is the common degree of decline of the quality of a unit caused by normal use of the unit. Example: worn down carpets where people often walk or faded paint

§         The landlord is responsible for certain services. These will be identified in the lease. Services can be heat, water, electricity, garbage, elevators, snow removal, sewers, appliances, etc. A landlord cannot stop providing any of these services without giving you 4 months notice before the anniversary date of your lease (the date each year that you first signed your lease). Discontinuation of a service is considered a rent increase and follows the same rules (see Rent)

§         Many landlords do not abide by health, safety, and housing regulations and there is very little to enforce this. Tenant complaints are not always dealt with by the landlord and problems persist.

§         Landlords may try to blame you for all damages and keep your security deposit (see Security Deposits).

§         Landlords may cut off services or fail to maintain them with little to no notice. Heat is often turned off and on, appliances are left unrepaired, elevators blocked or broken, etc.

          Write a demand letter to your landlord. Make sure you include the date, your address, exactly what you want fixed, the date that you want it fixed by, and what action you will take if it is not fixed by that date.

          File a complaint with Residential Tenancies to have a hearing to receive an order for your landlord to do repairs or continue a service. You can also ask for your landlord to pay you for the inconvenience. This is called “rent abatement” or a “rental rebate.” You can also ask to pay your rent in trust directly to Residential Tenancies instead of your landlord until the repairs are done.

          Call by-law enforcement to come and look at the building. The inspector will give your landlord an order to do repairs and if your landlord does not do them within thirty days, HRM will do the repairs and charge your landlord. Your by-law complaint can be anonymous. Call HRM customer service at 490-4000 between 7:30am – 10:00pm . The drawback to this is that it may take a long time for an inspector to come to your home, sometimes even months.

          Document everything that happens from the beginning. This will help you to prove your case if you go to a hearing. Take pictures, write down when you have asked your landlord to fix the problem, collect examples: bugs, mould, mice droppings, etc.

          Organize with other tenants! Call the media, write a mass letter to your landlord, personally deliver bugs to your landlord if you have a bug infestation or rotting food if your fridge is broken, set up a picket outside their home or work, be creative! (see Tenant Organizing)

The information on this site contains general legal information only and is not intended to serve as a replacement for professional or other legal advice.  Further, this guide only applies to Residential Tenancies in Nova Scotia. 

Last updated: November 19, 2006.