# When you own a rental property and your marriage breaks down - Quebec



## Moneygirl (Sep 19, 2014)

Thanks in advance for any help.

My brother owns a rental home in Quebec. He and his wife are separating and need to sell the house.

There is another 21 months in the tenant's lease.

The house is not really in any shape to be sold, as is, as a rental property, as the tenant has pets, is a heavy smoker and does not take care of the property.

So, the tenant needs to be removed so they can fix up the house for sale, if possible.

Another option is for my brother to move in himself, and either do the fix up while he is living there, or live there and buy my sister-in-law out. In any event (other than having to suck it up and sell the propeorty as is with the tenant in the home), how can they remove the tenant?

I've tried googling but am getting conflicting answers, would appreciate any Quebec landlord, or tenants who know the answer to this.


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## Berubeland (Sep 6, 2009)

Inquire at the Regie Du Logement. 

If their law is anything like Ontario, they cannot kick out the tenant until the end of the lease and even then they can only give notice when the property is sold (not to sell it) Giving notice in bad faith is an action that can net you fines and hefty ones.


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## wendi1 (Oct 2, 2013)

The tenant can waive their rights, though, and they often do for a financial consideration. 

21 months is a long time to wait to recover your property, but if your brother wants to move in himself, at the end of the lease he can terminate the lease because he wants it for his own use. I think he has to give a ton of notice, though - like six months before the end of the lease. It's been a while since I rented in Quebec.

I would try to sell it as, with the tenant.


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## Munns (Aug 2, 2010)

Wendi is correct. You need to give 6 months notice before the lease expires in order to claim the property for personal occupance. Given that that is 15 months away, their only option would be to offer the tenant money to leave (3 months rent is an unwritten rule of thumb) or sell the property as is. 

the Regie du logement website has some helpful information: http://www.rdl.gouv.qc.ca/en/accueil/accueil.asp


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## Moneygirl (Sep 19, 2014)

Munns said:


> Wendi is correct. You need to give 6 months notice before the lease expires in order to claim the property for personal occupance. Given that that is 15 months away, their only option would be to offer the tenant money to leave (3 months rent is an unwritten rule of thumb) or sell the property as is.
> 
> the Regie du logement website has some helpful information: http://www.rdl.gouv.qc.ca/en/accueil/accueil.asp


Thank you everyone, that is what I was afraid of. They are losing money every month on this rental, so they'd have to sell at a significant discount if the tenant stays in place. Hopefully mediation will take into account that there is loss every month until June 2016 when they are figuring out how to divide everything up.

It seems odd to me that a divorced couple could be forced to continue to own property together, beyond their divorce date.

Will check out the site.

Thx again


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## OhGreatGuru (May 24, 2009)

I would suggest they sell the property as is. It may be in need of repair, but it has a paying tenant. It is worth only what they can sell it for now. All their strategies seem to be aimed at getting possession so that they can increase it's future value. This in turn just has so much potential for argument over how to divide that future value.


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## Cal (Jun 17, 2009)

I would agree with selling the property as is. No guarantee for the reno dollars to re coup at 100%.


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## Mortgage u/w (Feb 6, 2014)

I'm a QC landlord and the rule is to give a 6 month notice prior to the end of lease in order to take back the property. The conditions are: 1- you need to use the property for personal occupancy (which seems to be the case) 2- you compensate the tenant for the inconvenience of moving out (judge can grant up to $2000) 3- you occupy the property for a minumum of 12 months 4- should you want to sell or put the unit back up for rent, the original tenant must be made aware and offered the unit before anyone else. 

A call to the QC rental board (www.rdl.gouv.qc.ca) will provide more details.

Ideally, you will want to arrange something amicably with the tenant......the QC board tends to favor tenants more than they favor landlords. If you're brother is on good terms with the tenant, he can try to occupy the property earlier and avoid all the legal procedures. 

If the end result is to sell the place, you might be better off selling as is. If it MUST be renovated, then you can offer to either relocate the tenant during the renovation period or try to do the renos while he's still in there.


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