Landlord must give 24 hours’ written notice to enter apartment for repairs

Q: I recently moved into an apartment in Ottawa with my friend. At the time of lease signing, we asked if some needed repairs could be done. The property manager assured us the repairs would be done. We sent a followup email shortly after moving in, and then noticed a couple of times that someone had been in our unit to work on repairs while we were away at work. When I followed up with the property manager asking her to let us know the date that someone would be coming to do repairs, she said

she didn’t have to give us notice of entry because we had asked for the repairs. Is that correct?

One of the repairs we asked for several times was to the lock on the front door. I had left the wheels from my bicycle locked in the front lobby, as that was the best place to put them. Over a recent weekend they were stolen. Can I get the landlord to reimburse the cost if I present receipts? Can I call a locksmith and get the front door lock repaired and deduct it from the rent payment? We are two women sharing an apartment and we would feel more secure knowing that only the tenants of the four other units could get access to the building.

A: To do repairs, a landlord is entitled to enter on 24 hours’ written notice, or if the tenant consents to entry at the time the request is made. If your email to the landlord said something like, “Please make these repairs. Your coming in any time this afternoon would be fine,” then that would suffice as consent at the time of entry. Assuming your email did not say anything like that, then the landlord is supposed to give you 24-hour notice in writing, stating a block of time during which they intend to enter to make the repair.

As to the lock, your landlord has an obligation to maintain the property in a good state of repair and fit for habitation. That obligation includes repairing or replacing the locks on the doors if they are not functioning properly. It is not appropriate for you to bring in a locksmith. That would violate the landlord’s rights and the rights of the other tenants.

At this point, you have nothing to lose by making a copy of the receipt for the replacement of the bicycle wheels and asking the landlord to reimburse you.

You could call the City of Ottawa Bylaw and Regulatory Services at 311. They will send a property standards inspector to check the lock, and if it is defective, issue a work order to the landlord to fix it.

Alternately, if the landlord does not repair or replace the lock, you could then make an application to the Landlord and Tenant Board requesting that they order the landlord to repair or replace the lock, and to reimburse you for the bicycle wheels.

The claim for the bicycle wheels could possibly — but not certainly — succeed. The landlord could argue that you should not have left the wheels in the common area entry lobby, especially when you knew the lock was not working. Generally, people are not liable for the wrongful acts of third parties, such as a thief. As well, if the front door needs to be pulled closed, then it might be that the wheels were stolen because one of the other tenants failed to close the door.