The District of West Vancouver is considering a bylaw amendment that would make it easier for landlords to provide secondary suites.
Currently, in order to have a secondary suite in West Vancouver, the owner must reside either in the principal dwelling or the suite.
The proposed amendment to the Zoning Bylaw would allow non-resident owners to offer a secondary suite, so long as:
the owner identifies a property manager who resides in either West Vancouver or North Vancouver,
the property manager is authorized to deal with complaints from neighbours, including parking issues, and
the owner authorizes the District to contact the manager should an issue arise.
A licence fee of $450 per year for non-resident owners is also under consideration.
Secondary suites can offer family members, seniors, singles and other renters an affordable place to live, while providing homeowners with a source of extra income, according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.
If you are thinking about offering a secondary suite, the CMHC recommends carefully screening tenants, which includes a completed rental application, running a tenant credit check and talking to previous landlords. Bad tenants are especially disruptive when living in secondary suites, and the eviction process can be slow. It’s much easier to spend time screening out a bad tenant than it is to evict one.
This post is provided by Tenant Verification Service, Inc., helping landlords reduce the risks of renting with fraud prevention tools that include Tenant Screening, Tenant Background Checks, (U.S. and Canada), as well as Criminal Background Checks, and Eviction Reports (U.S. only).
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Disclaimer: The information provided in this post in not intended to be construed as legal advice, nor should it be considered a substitute for obtaining individual legal counsel or consulting your local, state, federal or provincial tenancy laws.
