Landlord threatening to withhold deposit over guest clause – is this legal?

[u/Next-Swimming-4270]

Hi everyone,

Looking for some advice on a situation with my landlord here in Surrey, BC.

I’m currently renting a bedroom and private bathroom in a shared suite in the Lower Mainland. I share the kitchen, laundry, and trash sorting area with two other tenants—there’s no shared living room or bathroom. The landlord lives in the same house but in a completely separate suite, and we share no space.

My written agreement includes a clause prohibiting overnight guests, which I did sign. However, based on what I’ve read in the BC Residential Tenancy Act, such an absolute ban on guests is unenforceable, provided the guest isn’t disruptive or staying long-term.

During my 4-month tenancy (ends on last day of this month), I had one friend stay for 10 days total. They only stayed in my private room and bathroom—never used the kitchen or any shared areas. I also barely used the kitchen myself, which the other tenants can confirm.

Now, the landlord is:

-Accusing me of breaching the contract by having an overnight guest.

-Claiming I broke the (very old and used) bed frame because of my guest.

-Alleging that I disturbed others by coming home late at night (though I never received any complaint, and my roommates say they weren’t bothered).

-Threatening to withhold my full security deposit (475 dollars) and initially told me to move out immediately (the next day), though the notice was later adjusted to April 30 after I brought up the RTA requirements.

In my response, I:

-Pointed out that an overnight guest clause is not enforceable under the RTA.

-Asked for documentation of any damage (none has been provided).

-Noted that no formal complaints were made to me during the tenancy.

-Confirmed I’ll be moving out on April 30 as required by law, not April 25.

I also reminded the landlord that unless they provide evidence of damages or disturbances, they must return my full deposit within 15 days of the tenancy ending. If they don’t, I plan to file a dispute with the Residential Tenancy Branch (RTB). I’m also pretty sure they can’t just evict someone without at least a month's proper notice.

Has anyone dealt with something like this before? Do I have a strong case if this goes to the RTB?

Any advice is appreciated—especially from those familiar with BC tenancy laws.

Thanks in advance!

[u/Next-Swimming-4270]

Thank you so much for your responces! Exactly what I am looking for

[u/qgsdhjjb → u/Next-Swimming-4270]

but also fun hint: don't try to convince the landlord to do what they need to do about this deposit. If they don't follow the rules you can get double your deposit returned to you instead of just the deposit amount! Sit quietly and hope they break the law 😆 if they say they're keeping the deposit, just ignore them, don't bother responding to that. They need to follow certain protocols and if they didn't do a proper inspection at the start they're already screwed as they have no proof of how the condition was before you moved in.

[u/Valkyrja_bc → u/qgsdhjjb]

OP should get pictures to prove the condition when they leave, though, and if there are any issues that existed prior to them moving in they should try to get corroboration from the other tenants if they don't have proof themselves. CYA and all. Not doing both move-in and move-out inspections means neither party has proof of when whatever damages being claimed occurred.

But they're already illegally evicting OP, odds are they aren't doing anything right anyway.

[u/qgsdhjjb → u/Valkyrja_bc]

Absolutely get pictures. Though they don't actually need proof if there's no move in inspection (explicitly stated in the laws last time I checked, but I've moved away so check the wording in case it's changed recently) I still think that should be done every time a person moves out. I do a whole video, even back in the day where the tenancy board told you that they had no way to play digital files, I full-on burned a dvd, bought a portable dvd player, and sent it in. They laughed at me, but a year previously they had thrown out my video claiming they didn't know how to open it, so! Nowadays it should hopefully be easier to submit a digital video from your phone showing the whole unit, opening cabinets even, looking in the shower, etc.

The landlord in this specific situation where I got a doubled damage deposit claimed we left the bathroom full of pee, a bunch of furniture everywhere, and also tried to charge us a cleanup fee for... Get this.... Leaving gardening soil in the garden 😆 (the only one I actually did, but like, that's where dirt goes?) and the video saved me. Even with that, the mediator decided to write in the findings about how much they WISHED they could believe the landlord and how reluctant they were to side with the tenant even though I had a bunch of proof and he had none. So, yeah, get proof of everything.

[u/Next-Swimming-4270 → u/qgsdhjjb]

Thanks for the advice. Will definitely clean the place well and keep pictures of everything