RTB Landlord Character Fitness Tests Prerequisite
The Issue
TO: The Honourable the Legislative Assembly of the Province of British Columbia, in Legislature Assembled:
The Petition of the undersigned residents of British Columbia humbly showeth that:
1. Safe, secure, and stable housing is a basic human right, yet the current Residential Tenancy Act (RTA) lacks fundamental safeguards to protect tenants from bad-faith, coercive, and abusive landlords.
2. Currently, there is no bar to entry for landlords. Anyone can rent out a property with zero training, no character or ethics assessment, and no mandatory comprehension of the Residential Tenancy Act. This lack of regulation enables calculated individuals to exploit the system for profit.
3. The Residential Tenancy Branch (RTB) currently relies on a paperwork-based system and "he-said, she-said" disputes. Bad-faith landlords exploit this by fabricating eviction notices, performing unsafe renovations, and lying about property conditions during move-out walk-throughs.
4. Landlords frequently weaponize the Mutual Agreement to End Tenancy. They fabricate reasons for eviction and threaten tenants into signing these agreements to bypass the formal hearing process. Once signed, the RTB is often powerless to reverse the agreement, leaving tenants displaced under duress with no recourse.
Your petitioners therefore humbly pray that the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia urge the Ministry of Housing to:
1. Create a Mandatory Landlord Licensing and Ethics Requirement: Require all landlords to pass an ethics course and a basic comprehension test on the Residential Tenancy Act before being legally permitted to rent out a unit.
2. Create Physical RTB Enforcement Officers: Appoint and employ trained, qualified citizens as Officers of the RTB Court. These officers should be dispatched to attend move-out walk-throughs, eviction disputes, and property inspections in person to act as independent, first-hand witnesses, closing the loopholes landlords use to fabricate claims.
3. Close the Coercion Loophole: Amend the Residential Tenancy Act to automatically void any Mutual Agreement to End Tenancy if there is demonstrable evidence that the agreement was obtained through unlawful threats, coercion, or duress by the landlord.
And as in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.
11
The Issue
TO: The Honourable the Legislative Assembly of the Province of British Columbia, in Legislature Assembled:
The Petition of the undersigned residents of British Columbia humbly showeth that:
1. Safe, secure, and stable housing is a basic human right, yet the current Residential Tenancy Act (RTA) lacks fundamental safeguards to protect tenants from bad-faith, coercive, and abusive landlords.
2. Currently, there is no bar to entry for landlords. Anyone can rent out a property with zero training, no character or ethics assessment, and no mandatory comprehension of the Residential Tenancy Act. This lack of regulation enables calculated individuals to exploit the system for profit.
3. The Residential Tenancy Branch (RTB) currently relies on a paperwork-based system and "he-said, she-said" disputes. Bad-faith landlords exploit this by fabricating eviction notices, performing unsafe renovations, and lying about property conditions during move-out walk-throughs.
4. Landlords frequently weaponize the Mutual Agreement to End Tenancy. They fabricate reasons for eviction and threaten tenants into signing these agreements to bypass the formal hearing process. Once signed, the RTB is often powerless to reverse the agreement, leaving tenants displaced under duress with no recourse.
Your petitioners therefore humbly pray that the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia urge the Ministry of Housing to:
1. Create a Mandatory Landlord Licensing and Ethics Requirement: Require all landlords to pass an ethics course and a basic comprehension test on the Residential Tenancy Act before being legally permitted to rent out a unit.
2. Create Physical RTB Enforcement Officers: Appoint and employ trained, qualified citizens as Officers of the RTB Court. These officers should be dispatched to attend move-out walk-throughs, eviction disputes, and property inspections in person to act as independent, first-hand witnesses, closing the loopholes landlords use to fabricate claims.
3. Close the Coercion Loophole: Amend the Residential Tenancy Act to automatically void any Mutual Agreement to End Tenancy if there is demonstrable evidence that the agreement was obtained through unlawful threats, coercion, or duress by the landlord.
And as in duty bound, your petitioners will ever pray.
Petition Updates
Share this petition
Petition created on October 19, 2026