Do I need to give 30 days notice?
I live in BC, Canada. I know that legally 30 days notice is expected when moving but my situation is a sticky one. Let me explain.
I've been renting a bedroom in a home for 4 months now, my 'landlord' isn't the homeowner and is renting from someone else. (The homeowner has not given permission for this) I signed no written agreements and I am on no leases for the home, still I know it's terrible form to not give proper notice even with these details. Two months ago it came to my attention that the guy I'm renting from is late and in some cases a month behind on rent to the homeowner. This concerned me but I was reassured. Now, a week before July I was aproached and asked to pay my rent a week early which threw up red flags because I have Always paid him early and wondered why he had to ask. I asked him point plank if he was having problems paying the utilities twice before giving him the money. He sayed no both times. He had two oportunities to come clean and instead, a week after I paid him I discovered our internet, phone and cable were being disconnected on the 6th due to an outstanding bill that had not been paid in a very very long time. It was upwards of $500 due to phone calls to 900 #s (I looked at the opened bill ontop of the fridge) made in April that were $50 each. I was angry, not because the internet is a huge part of my life (I work, come home to my laptop... that's about it.) but because I was at a huge disadvantage now, so he lied to my face and now I had paid for a home losing one utility after the other, so what? I already gave him my money and I was stuck in that situation. I confronted him, he admitted to being stressed out about ALL the bills and said he had been irresponsible and had only put $20 here and there to the bills for months and was in a huge hole of dept. at the time he was of the attitude that there was nothing that could be done, and he let me look at all the bills. They were all final notices and giving shut-off dates. I said he needed to get it together and prioritize these things and he insisted that he "could only pay the landlord and his cell phone bill." I later found out that the money for rent I gave him at the end of June ACTUALLY went towards paying off the landlord for JUNE and not for this month. I am devastated, recently his pets infested the whole damn house with fleas and they were in our beds and everything. He took 2 weeks to get anything done, putting me off each time with a day he would buy bug bombs and changing the date as it got closer. You need to vacuum every day, he didn't do anything except put some ointment behind their ears. I was furious. I can't live like that. I don't know that if I give him money for this next month if at any point we will be served 10 day eviction from the home owner. I applied with a friend for an apartment for August, we were accepted and I can sign the lease... but if I leave I'm worried because when I moved in he said I better give him 30 days notice and in the same sentence told me about the last woman and her daughter who rented from him came home one day to all there stuff thrown on the sidewalk. I guess that was his way of ending an unwanted living situation. I guess the point of this is, that when I asked him about the bills before I paid him, if he would have told me about the utilities instead of lying, I would have given my notice and the rent for my last month on the spot. Should I expect him to take legal action? Can he confiscate my laptop because "I owe him" ?
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