My rental agreement was with one person, now two are living in the unit and paying very low rent.

It is fairly common for a tenant to split the costs of renting by bringing in a permanent guest, roommate or “undertenant”. The Residential Tenancies Act includes no remedy for a landlord in such cases, because it does not consider it to be unlawful. A landlord can neither raise the rent to reflect the additional utility use, and wear and tear on the rental unit, nor prevent the tenant from having the roommate, as long as local municipal bylaws on occupancy standards are respected. The existence of a roommate in a tenant’s unit is not something the landlord can do anything about unless the “tenant” is required to share a kitchen or bathroom with the owner or the owner’s immediate family members as defined in the Act.

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