Meet Alex.
Alex is 18 years old. She just finished high school and is moving to the big city for university. She’s both nervous and excited!
It’s the last week of August. School starts in just one week! But not only does Alex need to buy her textbooks, she needs to find a place to live. And hopefully a part-time job close to school.
Where will she live?
Alex searches online and finds a few basement suites advertised for rent near school. She messages the landlords to schedule viewings. And she’s off!
The first place isn’t great but Alex really likes the second one. The monthly rent is within her budget and the location is perfect. She tells the landlord she is interested.
The landlord responds that she must fill out an application form. The landlord says they expect to get about a dozen applications. Whoa! Looks like it’ll be tough competition!
Once Alex is done with the form, the landlord tells her she must pay a non-refundable application fee of $100 to be considered as a tenant.
Wait, what?! This fee was not noted on the application form!
Is an application fee allowed?
Alex is not prepared to hand over $100 without more information. She wants to know if the landlord can request such a fee.
She quickly pulls out her phone and googles “application fee apartment Alberta”. The first result is for a website called Laws for Landlords and Tenants in Alberta. This sounds promising!!
Alex clicks through to the information. The website tells her that landlords can charge an application fee, even if she doesn’t move in. This is news to Alex. The website also has a few tips for tenants.
After reading the webpage, she decides she does not want to rent this place. First, the website warns that application fees should be in writing – which was not the case here. Second, she doesn’t want to be out $100 if the landlord does not accept her application. She’s on a tight budget after all!
With a sigh, Alex politely tells the landlord she is not going through with the application process and leaves.
What does she need to know about being a tenant?
After this incident, Alex realizes she does not know ANYTHING about the laws for tenants and landlords. When she gets back to her hotel, she decides to spend a little more time learning about her rights and responsibilities as a tenant. After all, she doesn’t want to end up in a legal problem if she can help it.
She goes back to the website from earlier and starts reading. And reading and reading.
So what did Alex learn?
Here’s a sneak peak.
DISCLAIMER | The story and characters described are not real. Any resemblance to real life persons or situations is coincidence. The information provided is legal information only and does not constitute legal advice.
EXSM 3989 - Digital Storytelling Class Blog 