Substantial Breach by Tenant - Landlord Remedies - Disputes - Laws for Tenants in Alberta

24 Hours Notice for Significant Damage or Physical Assault

A landlord can serve you with a 24 hour notice to leave the property in the following more extreme circumstances:

if you have done significant damage to the premises
if you have allowed friends or guests to do significant damage to the premises
if you have physically attacked or threatened to physically attack the landlord or other tenants

A 24-hour notice can be served in a fixed term or periodic tenancy.

The 24-hour notice must:

be given to the tenant in writing;
be signed by the landlord or his or her agent, e.g. the building manager;
state what you did that breached the tenancy agreement; and
state the date and hour that your tenancy will end.

The notice must be served on you properly according to the law.

If you are served with a 24 hour notice to leave, and you stay in the premises after the 24 hours has ended, the landlord can apply to court within 10 days for an order to confirm that the tenancy is ended.

The landlord must file an affidavit with the court that includes

details of the damage or assault, and
a copy of the notice that was given to terminate the tenancy, with details of the date and time it was served.

You must be given notice of the court hearing within three days of the hearing.

If the matter goes to court, the court will consider evidence of whether you did the damage or the assault, and then will either confirm that the tenancy is ended or declare the 24-hour notice to be ineffective.

If you stay in the premises after the 24 hours has ended, and the landlord does not apply to court within ten days, then the 24-hour notice is no longer valid.

If a landlord fears that more damage or assaults will happen before the 24-hour notice period is over, he or she can apply to court for an order that the tenancy be ended immediately.

May 2005