Extended Limitation Periods Created by the Residential Tenancy Act

Knowing one’s limitation date for a claim is of the utmost importance for all would be litigants. Once a limitation date expires, the right to bring a claim (absent unusual circumstances) vanishes even if the claim would be successful on its merits. Knowing limitation dates is equally as important for landlords as the Residential Tenancy Act [SBC 2002] c.78 alters the way limitation dates are typically calculated. This difference can result in claims that are much older than the standard two years.

THE LIMITATION ACT

Under the Limitation Act [SBC 2012] c.13 the basic limitation period, which applies to most civil lawsuits, is two years after the day the claim is discovered. A litigant will discover their claim when they reasonably know all of the following:

• that injury, loss or damage had occurred;

• that the injury, loss or damage was caused by or contributed to by an act or omission;

• that the act or omission was that of the person against whom the clam is or may be made; and

• that having regard to the nature of the injury, loss or damage, a court proceeding would be an appropriate means to seek to remedy the injury, loss or damage.

Once a potential litigant is aware of the above their limitation period will begin to run.

THE RESIDENTIAL TENANCY ACT

Recently, in Stewart v. 0963553 BC Ltd. 2025 BCSC 1879 our firm successfully defended a landlord against a judicial review of a Residential Tenancy Branch decision about claims that occurred between 2009 and 2017. In this case, the tenants had extensive legal training and had built their claim for years throughout their tenancy. The tenants’ preparation resulted in 100s of pages of evidence, pictures, and videos relating to claims that had occurred many years previously. In some instances, the tenants had videos of them giving testimony from when the claim occurred. Despite preparing their claim when it allegedly occurred in 2017, the tenants did not bring a claim at the Residential Tenancy Branch until after their tenancy had ended and in 2023.

Despite the Limitation Act’s standard two-year limitation period, the tenants’ limitation period had not expired as the Residential Tenancy Act section 60 (1) states:

If this Act does not state a time by which an application for dispute resolution must be made, it must be made within 2 years of the date that the tenancy to which the matter relates ends or is assigned (emphasis added).

Section 60(1) of the Residential Tenancy Act changes the way limitation periods are calculated and allows for both tenants and landlords to bring a claim up to two years after the end of the tenancy. This way of calculating limitation periods can result in a landlord having to defend against a case that could be decades old.

A particularly important aspect of the tenants’ claims in Stewart turned on expert testimony by the tenants’ expert. It was found that the tenants’ expert had drastically changed their opinion from 2017 for the RTB hearing. This drastic change in the expert’s opinion may not have been due to bad faith by the expert but is more likely indictive of why limitation dates are typically two years. When claims are tried after the two-year limitation date, memories begin to fade and witness testimony can become unreliable. Fortunately, the landlord in this case maintained good records from 2017 of their email exchanges with this expert that showed the drastic change in opinion. That good record keeping allowed for the Residential Tenancy Branch adjudicator and Supreme Court Justice to both rule that the expert’s evidence was unreliable giving it little to no weight in the proceeding.

Stewart highlights the importance of landlords keeping good records for the duration of the tenancy especially in long term tenancies. Landlords are reminded to carefully review their document storage policies and ensure that all information relating to tenancies, such as tenancy agreements, records of rent payments, repairs, communications, and tenant complaints are appropriately stored and maintained for at least two years after the tenancy has ended. A failure to have appropriate records may result in defending a claim without the evidence needed to mount an appropriate defence.

If you have questions about these or other landlord tenancy issues, please contact us. All our lawyers act for both landlords and tenants before the RTB and in judicial reviews before the Supreme Court. We would be happy to assist you.