11
NOTE: Rules about smoking and pets are common rules made
by landlords. For more information on these please go to the
sections on Pets or Smoking.
• If the rule is not in the Standard Form of Lease it is not legally re-
quired. It is a landlord made rule, and you may ask them to change
it.
• If you do not agree with a rule, ask to have it changed prior to sign-
ing the lease. If the landlord agrees to an amendment of a rule on a
lease it is important to obtain their consent in writing. That way if
there is ever a dispute or disagreement about a rule being broken
their consent is documented.
Changing a Lease from Year-to-year to Month-to-month:
In Nova Scotia yearly leases do NOT automatically become monthly
leases after a year. If you want to change a yearly lease to a monthly
lease, you must give your landlord a 3-month written Notice to Quit for
your yearly lease, along with a written request to change to a month-to-
month lease.
You must give your Notice to Quit at least three months before the end
of the yearly lease. The lease becomes a monthly lease as of the anni-
versary date. The anniversary date is the day your lease started and re-
mains the same every year. For example, if you signed your lease on
June 1st, your anniversary date is June 1st. This means that even if you
gave your notice in January, the lease will not become monthly in April.
It will only become monthly on the anniversary date: June 1st, in this
case.
Your landlord must respond in writing within 30 days if they wish to
refuse. The landlord cannot arbitrarily or unreasonably refuse to give
you permission to change to a monthly lease. If you do not receive a
response, your landlord is deemed to have consented to your request
for a month-to month-lease.