New Brunswick Landlord Moving Back In: Personal Use Notice Rules

You want to move back into your rental property — or your adult child needs it. New Brunswick law allows this, but it comes with strict rules about who qualifies, how much notice you give, and what you must actually do after the tenant leaves. Getting any of these wrong means your notice gets set aside and you start the clock over.

Who Qualifies for Personal-Use Termination

Under Section 24.12(1)(a) of the Residential Tenancies Act, a landlord can terminate a tenancy if the premises will be occupied by:

• The landlord personally
• The landlord's spouse
• A child of the landlord
• A parent of the landlord
• A parent of the landlord's spouse

That is the complete list. Siblings, nieces, nephews, friends, and business partners do not qualify. If your brother wants to rent the unit, personal-use termination is not available to you.

The landlord must intend in good faith for the premises to be occupied by one of these people for at least three consecutive months.

Notice Periods

The notice period depends on the tenancy type:

• Ordinary periodic tenancies: at least one month for month-to-month, one week for week-to-week, and three months for year-to-year tenancies. Long-term tenancies require three months notice; mobile home sites require six months notice.
• Fixed-term leases: no separate notice is required to end the lease on its agreed end date

The termination date must align with the last day of a rental period. For a month-to-month tenancy, notice must be served at least one month before the end of a rental period to take effect on its last day.

The Good-Faith Test

This is where many personal-use notices fail. The landlord must genuinely intend to occupy the unit (or have the qualifying family member occupy it). A Residential Tenancies Officer will investigate if the tenant disputes, and the landlord bears the burden of establishing good faith.

A "mere wish to repossess" the property does not meet this threshold. If you are actually trying to get the unit back so you can rent it to someone else at a higher rate, the Officer will set the notice aside.

What the Tenant Can Do

After receiving the notice, the tenant has 15 days to apply to a Residential Tenancies Officer for a formal review. The parallel review period for a mobile home site is also 15 days under Section 25.6. If the tenant does not file within 15 days, the termination stands. If they do file, the Officer reviews the notice, asks the landlord to establish the reason, mediates if possible, and confirms or sets aside the notice.

The Two-Month Occupation Requirement

After the tenant vacates, you (or the qualifying family member) must actually move into the unit within two months. This is not a suggestion — it is an enforceable statutory condition under Section 24.12(8).

If you fail to occupy within two months, the displaced tenant can apply to a Residential Tenancies Officer within two years of the termination for a compensation order. The Officer can award moving expenses, the difference in rent at their new place, storage costs, and other actual losses.

Long-Term Tenants Get Extra Protection

If the same tenant has occupied the unit for five or more consecutive years, the tenancy is a long-term tenancy under Sections 24.2 through 24.6 of the Act. Long-term tenancies are deemed month-to-month by operation of law, regardless of any fixed-term lease still in effect, and a landlord must give at least three months’ notice to terminate.

The Ending a Tenancy in New Brunswick guide includes the exact wording for personal-use notices, a date-alignment calculator, and a service verification log that documents your delivery method for the Tribunal.

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