1. Learn when the buyer might not have to move in

The buyer, their family member, or a caregiver does not have to move in right away after you move out. And sometimes, they do not have to move in at all.

Reasonable time to move in

The law says that, after you move out, the buyer, their family member, or a caregiver must move in “within a reasonable time”. If the person moves in within a reasonable time, the buyer and your landlord do not owe you any more money for having to move out.

The law does not say exactly what is a “reasonable” amount of time. But the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) often says that it's reasonable to wait a few months to move in.

The LTB will look at the specific situation to decide if the person moved in reasonably quickly. For example:

• Did the rental unit need repairs?
• Was the person travelling for work?
• Did the person delay moving for a good reason, like illness?

Material change in circumstances

The buyer might have honestly planned to move in when your landlord evicted you. But something unexpected may have happened in their life after your landlord evicted you, so that it no longer makes sense for them to move in. The law calls this a “material change in circumstances”. For example:

• The buyer gets a job offer in a different city.
• The person the caregiver was supposed to help dies.
• The buyer's child decides to go to school somewhere else.

When there is a material change in circumstances, the buyer and your landlord will probably not owe you any more money for evicting you.

It's important that these life changes are unexpected. If your landlord or the buyer knows before you move out that things have changed and the person won't be moving in, they are no longer acting in good faith when your landlord evicts you.

For example, your landlord gives you a notice to move out because the buyer needs to live in the unit for a job. But before you move out, the buyer loses their job and decides not to buy the place. The landlord is probably not acting in good faith if they evict you. In that situation, the LTB might order them to pay you money.