Can I email or text my Notice to Vacate to my landlord or property management company if I live in Alberta, Canada?
In Alberta, the Residential Tenancies Act (“RTA”) outlines that a notice to vacate (“notice”) must be delivered in person or by registered mail to the mailing address provided in the “notice of landlord” and signed by all tenants party to the lease. The “notice of landlord” is generally outlined on your lease agreement and/or the address where you send your rental payment.
If for some reason you are unable to serve your notice in person or by registered mail, you should be aware that email or text does not constitute valid notice under the guidelines of the RTA or by Service Alberta. If you decide to try and send your notice electronically, in order for your notice to be considered valid you:
- need to agree with your landlord or property manager in advance that email constitutes proper notice and service; and then,
- need to follow up to confirm that your notice sent by email or text was received.
For many reasons, email and text are poor forms of notice and are not legally recognized as methods of official service for many reasons (not limited to): getting lost in spam filters; deleted by accident; getting bounced back days after being sent because of a typo; etc.
6 Tips to make sure your notice is properly served and received:
- Hand deliver your notice or send it by registered mail.
- Make sure to keep a copy of your notice. If you give the notice to someone in person, you can ask them to sign and date your copy.
- If you mail your notice, keep a record of when you mailed it. The best way to do this is to get a receipt from the post office.
- Your notice should include: the date the notice is served; your address; forwarding address (if possible); the date you will be ending your tenancy; reason you are moving; and, a signature from everyone party to the lease.
- If you opt to send your notice electronically make sure its okay with your landlord or property manager in advance and confirm that it was received.
- It is very important that your notice is given to your property manager or landlord on time. Even if served just one day late, you could incur additional costs if outlined on your lease agreement.
For convenience, tenants of Emerald Management & Realty Ltd. can complete our online Notice to Vacate Form, download it and serve it in person or by registered mail to: Emerald Management & Realty Ltd., 1036 – 10 Avenue SW, Calgary, AB T2R 1M4.
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