header header header header header
Housebasementsuite walkup hirise condos
Go To Laws for Landlords Publications and Podcasts
LRC's Public Legal Education Blog

Winner of the 2007 Alberta Consumer Champion Award of Distinction
acca
Funding from the Alberta Real Estate Foundation gratefully acknowledged. AREF

Home > Moving Out > Just the Facts > Abandonment > Premises

Tenant Abandons Premises

A tenant might abandon rented premises without ending the tenancy by leaving without giving any notice and not coming back. In legal terms, as a tenant, you have “repudiated” the tenancy agreement by abandoning the premises. For the purposes of calculating a landlord's losses, it is important in these situations whether the tenancy is fixed term or periodic.

When can a landlord treat a property as abandoned? A landlord must have a reasonable belief that you have gone before taking any further action. What is a reasonable belief will depend upon individual circumstances.

For example, if you have been away, it would probably not be reasonable to assume that you had abandoned the property after a period of only two weeks, particularly if the rent was still being paid. If you had been away for six weeks with no communication, had not paid the rent, and moved your furniture out, these are more reasonable grounds to assume that you have abandoned your tenancy.

What can a landlord do if a tenant abandons premises? The landlord can treat the abandonment in one of two ways (see sidebar for links):

  • as if the tenancy is continuing. In this situation the landlord can claim for unpaid rent from you. 
  • as if the rental agreement has been repudiated (i.e. ended) because of your actions. The landlord can then claim damages from you.

May 2005



Abandonment:PremisesGoods


More on Premises: Landlord Continues Tenancy Landlord Treats Abandonment as Ending Tenancy Landlord's Losses