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As of April 1, 2010, roomers, boarders and their landlords will be protected under the Residential Tenancies Act. Other positive changes to the Act will affect all tenants and landlords, whether the accommodation is an apartment, house, mobile home, rooming house or boarding house. Read on for more details.

Roomers, boarders and their landlords

Bill 35 will provide roomers, boarders and their landlords with the equivalent rights, responsibilities and protections as all other tenants and landlords under the Residential Tenancies Act.

Rooming houses include accommodations which have some shared facilities, such as a kitchen or bathroom. A boarding house is the same as a rooming house, but it also includes some or all meals.

Two changes specific to roomers, boarders and their landlords include the following:

• Landlords of rooming and boarding houses must provide and maintain secure doors and locks to help keep their tenants safe.
• If the landlord provides cleaning services, tenants must allow the cleaners to enter their room between 8am and 8pm every day except Sundays and holidays.

All tenants and landlords in New Brunswick

To better protect New Brunswickers, Bill 35 includes changes and additions to the rights and responsibilities of all tenants and landlords. They include the following:

• A new and improved residential tenancies lease covering all residential tenancies including mobile home sites.
• A landlord must provide a clean, safe accommodation that is in good repair.
• All notices must be served in writing.
• If a tenant requests repairs, a landlord may enter the premises without notice within two working days of the request. If the repairs cannot be made within two days, then 24 hours notice must be given.
• Tenants have 15 days to move out after the day on which they have been served a notice to vacate, where a tenant fails to pay rent.
• Landlords have 15 days to submit security deposits that have been paid to them to the Office of the Rentalsman.
• If tenants don't pay their rent on time, the landlord can ask them to pay a late fee equivalent to the amount of the NSF (not sufficient funds) charges that were charged by a financial institution to the Landlord only if provided for under clause 4(B)(2) of the Residential Lease.
• Landlords can submit claims against tenants' security deposits if tenants don't pay their rent, utilities or late payment fees.

For more detailed information, please see the Information Bulletin - new amendments to The Residential Tenancies Act - .