What can be worse than losing the love of your life? Perhaps losing the home you shared with them.
At least, that’s the reality of one man in Canada who is being forced out of his home after his lifelong partner died.
Halifax resident Randy Beals, 64, told Global News that he’s been living in the same apartment since 2016 with his partner, Lillian, who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in the spring and died soon after in the summer as a result of surgery complications.
And because she was the only name on their apartment lease, Beals is being kicked out of his residence with nowhere to go all while dealing with health issues of his own.
“Where am I going to go? I don’t want to live on the streets,” he told the news outlet.
According to the report, the couple’s property management company is legally able to terminate their rental agreement under Nova Scotia law, even if Beals and another family member are still living inside the apartment and still making rent payments.
In fact, according to Dalhousie Legal Aid Services’ tenant rights guide, if a tenant dies the lease ends on the last day of the next rental period.
“This means if you are in a month-to-month lease and die in the middle of April, the lease will automatically end on the last day of May. If you are in a year-to-year lease beginning on June 1st and die during the year, the lease will automatically end on the last day of May. The lease will NOT automatically renew,” the guide says.
Fortunately, tenant laws are a lot different in Ontario.
According to the Residential Tenancies Act, if a tenant of a rental unit dies and the rental unit is the principal residence of the spouse of that tenant, the spouse is still considered a tenant, unless they vacate the unit within a 30-day period.
Executive Director of South Etobicoke Community Legal Services Benjamin Ries told Now Toronto that thanks to longstanding regulation under the Residential Tenancies Act (2006) cohabiting spouses not listed on the lease can take over a tenancy if the tenant dies, at the same rent and under the same lease.
According to him, this applies equally to married and common-law spouses and that having proof of your relationship status and co-occupancy in the rental unit is important as well as any copy of the lease.
“This information and documentation can protect a spouse when reaching out to the landlord to advise that they are taking over their deceased spouse’s tenancy,” Ries shared.
“But children of a deceased tenant don’t get this protection. And none of this protection for spouses necessarily applies in social housing or care homes.”
And it’s not just children, non-spouse occupants also include siblings, parents and friends of the tenant named on the lease.
“Non-spouse occupants generally have 30 days after the tenant’s death to vacate. If they stay in the rental unit and the landlord is aware of their continued occupancy for more than 60 days without bringing an application to evict them as unauthorized occupants, these roommates of a departed tenant would become ‘deemed assignees’ with the right to continue the tenancy at the same rent and under the same lease,” he said.
Overall, Ries acknowledges that this can be a difficult and stressful period of time for anyone trying to keep a roof over their heads, especially when also grieving the death of a loved one.
Beals’ step-daughter is currently fighting his eviction and will have one final opportunity to appeal the property management’s decision in Nova Scotia’s small claims court on Nov. 16, according to Global News.
