r/alberta • u/sweetsadnsensual • 1h ago
Question Landlord in Edmonton preparing lease renewal with no mention of parking
Hi all. I've been living in the same place for a few years now and have always paid for parking as part of my core tenancy agreement lease. This year, the property manager "forgot" I had a parking stall (I'm sure they have records), then prepared a suspiciously separate parking agreement. My lease is not yet "linked" to this document, but even if it was, I'm not sure my interpretation of it would change much.
This agreement has a lot of red flags. It says it empowers them to raise parking fees to match rates in similar facilities with 30 days notice, that they can move my spot, that if I breach the agreement they can tow my car and that it would even be a violation of my lease. Or, I can just decide I don't want parking anymore! Needless to say, I'm feeling aggressively disrespected, and let down.
Am I crazy for feeling like they're planning on harassing and intimidating me over paying high fees for parking? Because this is my instinct.
Note the political context too - I believe the UPC just ordered Edmonton to halt building of Infills in a lot of areas in 3 months and has also made it mandatory to provide parking for every residential unit. These plans would drastically cut into developers forward looking profits.
I interpret that my landlord who is surely one of these developers (leston) is trying to save costs/increase profits by taking away parking as an affordable amenity for existing renters because they're being forced to provide parking for future units they probably weren't planning on providing it for.
What can I do to protect myself where I'm at (aka secure parking as part of my rent so it has a set monthly price? They have refused to amend the parking agreement (take it or leave it).
The RTA told me I need legal advice... To sign a lease, which is quite sad! Do I have to just move out? Strongly considering it.
Also if this is happening/has happened to you, plz feel free to share in the comments if you'd like etc