Peaceful Enjoyment & Reasonable Privacy

Quick Facts
  • Excessive noise is not permitted at any time of the day or night.
  • Landlords and tenants should always be respectful of each other.
  • It's always recommended to give the other party an opportunity to resolve a problem before moving on to more formal steps.
What You Need to Know

The Residential Tenancies Act states that a landlord shall not unreasonably interfere with the tenant’s reasonable privacy or peaceful enjoyment of the rental premises. This includes any common areas as well as the property itself. The Act also states that a tenant shall not unreasonably interfere with the rights or reasonable privacy of the landlord or other tenants.

When a landlord or tenant interferes with the other party’s reasonable privacy or peaceful enjoyment of the rental unit a termination notice can be served.

When the landlord fails to provide reasonable privacy or peaceful enjoyment the tenant may give notice that the rental agreement is terminated between five and fourteen days later.

When the tenant is interfering with the reasonable privacy or peaceful enjoyment of the landlord or other tenants, the landlord may give notice that the rental agreement is terminated in as little as five days.

More information on this can be found in our Help Topic on Termination Notices.

 

Case Law

The following are excerpts that have been taken from recent Service NL decisions. The full decisions are available by following the links provided.

Decision 19-0081-05
I accept the evidence of the landlords and note that a continual pattern of yelling and screaming between the tenant and a guest in addition to the guest entering onto the adjacent tenants back deck and going through the discarded cigarette butt tin is not an accepted behavior when other tenants are living in the same dwelling building. The social norm is to respect the privacy and peaceful enjoyment of others and not subject other tenants to a sense of insecurity and violent actions. I find that the tenant has interfered with both the peaceful enjoyment and reasonable privacy of the landlords and the adjacent tenant beyond the socially accepted norms.

Read Full Decision

Decision 19-0058-05
I accept the evidence of the landlords and note that a continual pattern of yelling and screaming between the tenant and family members is not an accepted behavior when other tenants are living in the same dwelling building. The social norm is to respect the privacy and peaceful enjoyment of others and not subject other tenants to a sense of insecurity and violent actions. I find that the tenant has interfered with both the peaceful enjoyment and reasonable privacy of the landlords and the adjacent tenant far beyond the socially accepted norms.

Read Full Decision

Decision 19-0080-05
I found the testimony of the landlord and her witness to be credible and I accept their claims that the tenants had been acting in a threatening and antisocial manner. The sort of behaviour described by the landlord’s witness is unreasonable and I accept her claim that this behaviour had interfered with her quiet and peaceful enjoyment of her apartment and that she is feeling anxious and fearful.

Read Full Decision

Decision 19-0093-05
The information from all witnesses is consistent respective of smelling smoke in the building and the constant and continual noise for banging doors as a result of the respondent and his guests. The evidence is corroborated by the maintenance person (DD) and I find the witness testimony to be credible.I accept the evidence of the landlord and note that a continual pattern of noise between the respondent and guests coming and going at all hours is not an accepted behavior when other tenants are living in the same dwelling building. The social norm is to respect the privacy and peaceful enjoyment of others and not subject other tenants to a sense of insecurity and intimidating actions. I find that the respondent has interfered with both the peaceful enjoyment and reasonable privacy of the landlord and the adjacent tenants far beyond the socially accepted norms.

Read Full Decision

 

Proper Documentation

If a landlord or tenant is interfering with your reasonable privacy or peaceful enjoyment, we always recommend giving them an opportunity to resolve the problem before moving on to more formal steps. This can be done by putting your complaints in writing and giving it to the other party. While not a legal requirement it can go a long way in showing you attempted to resolve the problems should further action need to be taken. It’s always a good idea to keep a copy of any letters and notices for your own records as well.

In addition to that it will be important to make sure you properly document the problems as this information may be helpful in case there is a hearing at Service NL over the matter. A good idea is to keep a paper log/journal of the issues. List the dates, times, and brief descriptions of the problems you are having. That way if the other party fails to correct the problem after being notified, and you need to terminate your rental agreement, you have documentation to back you up.

Having proper documentation can be important because a landlord or tenant can challenge a termination made for interfering with peaceful enjoyment. Having proper documentation can make or break your case!

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Files / Documents
Landlord’s Notice to Terminate Early – With Cause (PDF)
A landlord can use this form to terminate a rental agreement early for reasons permitted in the Residential Tenancies Act.
Download / View
Tenant’s Notice to Terminate Early – With Cause (PDF)
A tenant can use this form to terminate a rental agreement early for reasons permitted in the Act.
Download / View
Resources
Fact Sheet – Statutory Conditions (Service NL) (PDF)
A fact sheet from Service NL that explains the basic obligations of landlords and tenants.
Visit
Fact Sheet – Termination Notice Early – Cause (Service NL) (PDF)
A fact sheet from Service NL that discusses terminating a rental agreement early for a reason permitted by the Residential Tenancies Act.
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Legislation

Statutory conditions

10. (1) Notwithstanding an agreement, declaration, waiver or statement to the contrary, where the relationship of landlord and tenant exists, there shall be considered to be an agreement between the landlord and tenant that the following statutory conditions governing the residential premises apply:

1. Obligation of the Landlord -

(a) The Landlord shall maintain the residential premises in a good state of repair and fit for habitation during the tenancy and shall comply with a law respecting health, safety or housing.

(b) Paragraph (a) applies regardless of whether, when the landlord and tenant entered into the rental agreement, the tenant had knowledge of a state of non-repair, unfitness for habitation or contravention of a law respecting health, safety or housing in the residential premises.

2. Obligation of the Tenant - The tenant shall keep the residential premises clean, and shall repair damage caused by a wilful or negligent act of the tenant or of a person whom the tenant permits on the residential premises.

3. Assigning or Subletting Residential Premises - The tenant may assign or sublet the residential premises subject to the written consent of the landlord, and the landlord shall not arbitrarily or unreasonably withhold consent and shall not levy a charge in excess of expenses actually incurred by the landlord in relation to giving consent.

4. Mitigation on Abandonment - Where the tenant abandons the residential premises, the landlord shall mitigate damages that may be caused by the abandonment to the extent that a party to a contract is required by law to mitigate damages.

5. Entry of Residential Premises - Except in the case of an emergency, the landlord shall not enter the residential premises without the consent of the tenant unless

(a) notice of termination of the rental agreement has been given and the entry is at a reasonable time for the purpose of showing the residential premises to a prospective tenant or purchaser and a reasonable effort has been made to give the tenant at least 4 hours' notice;

(b) the entry is made at a reasonable time and written notice of the time of the entry has been given to the tenant at least 24 hours in advance of the entry; or

(c) the tenant has abandoned the residential premises under section 31.

6. Entry Doors - Except by mutual consent, neither the landlord nor the tenant shall, during the use or occupancy of the residential premises by the tenant, alter a lock or locking system on a door that gives entry to the residential premises.

7. Peaceful Enjoyment and Reasonable Privacy -

(a) The tenant shall not unreasonably interfere with the rights and reasonable privacy of a landlord or other tenants in the residential premises, a common area or the property of which they form a part.

(b) The landlord shall not unreasonably interfere with the tenant's reasonable privacy and peaceful enjoyment of the residential premises, a common area or the property of which they form a part.

8. Disconnection of Services - A landlord or tenant shall not, without the written consent of the other party to the rental agreement, disconnect or cause to be disconnected heat, water or electric power services being provided to the residential premises.

(2) Where a landlord and tenant enter into a written rental agreement, the statutory conditions set out in subsection (1) shall be reproduced in the rental agreement without variation or modification.

 

Notice where landlord contravenes peaceful enjoyment and reasonable privacy

23. (1) Notwithstanding subsection 18(1) and paragraph 18(3)(a), where a landlord contravenes statutory condition 7(b) set out in subsection 10(1), the tenant may give the landlord notice that the rental agreement is terminated and the tenant intends to vacate the residential premises on a specified date not less than 5 days, but not more than 14 days, after the notice has been served.

(2)  In addition to the requirements under section 34, a notice under this section shall

(a)  be signed by the tenant;

(b)  state the date on which the rental agreement terminates and the tenant intends to vacate the residential premises; and

(c)  be served in accordance with section 35.

 

Notice where tenant contravenes peaceful enjoyment and reasonable privacy

24. (1) Notwithstanding subsection 18(2) and paragraph 18(3)(b), where a tenant contravenes statutory condition 7(a) set out in subsection 10(1), the landlord may give the tenant notice that the rental agreement is terminated and the tenant is required to vacate the residential premises on a specified date not less than 5 days after the notice has been served.

(2)  In addition to the requirements under section 34, a notice under this section shall

(a)  be signed by the landlord;

(b)  state the date on which the rental agreement terminates and the tenant is required to vacate the residential premises; and

(c)  be served in accordance with section 35.