New Brunswick Landlord Selling Property: Tenant Notice Requirements

You have listed your rental property and a buyer wants vacant possession at closing. It sounds straightforward — sell the house, the tenant moves out. In New Brunswick, it does not work that way. A property sale does not automatically end an existing tenancy, and ignoring this rule can put both the closing and your legal standing at risk.

A Sale Does Not Cancel the Lease

Under the Residential Tenancies Act, a contract of sale for a residential rental property does not void or cancel the tenancy agreement. When title transfers, the buyer steps directly into the shoes of the seller, inheriting all of the landlord's obligations and the existing lease terms. The tenant's rights carry through the sale unchanged.

If the lease is still in effect on closing day, a buyer who wants to live in the property cannot demand that the tenant leave solely because of the sale. The tenancy continues under the new owner until it ends under the lease and the Act.

When a Buyer Wants to Move In

If the purchaser intends to occupy the property personally — or have an immediate family member (spouse, child, parent, or the spouse's parent) occupy it — the landlord can serve a termination notice under Section 24.12(1)(a) of the Act. The intended occupant must occupy the premises for at least three consecutive months. The key requirements:

• The agreement of purchase and sale must be firm before the notice can be served
• The notice period for ordinary periodic tenancies is 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. A fixed-term lease ends on its agreed end date without a separate termination notice.
• The termination date must align with the end of a rental period

For an ordinary month-to-month tenancy, the landlord’s notice period is at least one month; if a valid, correctly timed notice is served, a 60-day window can accommodate that period. A long-term tenancy requires three months’ notice and a mobile home site requires six months, so 60 days cannot cover those notice periods.

Form 8: The Notice You Must Not Forget

Within seven days of the title transfer, the selling landlord must serve Form 8 — Notice of Transfer on both the tenant and the Residential Tenancies Tribunal. This form notifies the tenant that the property has changed hands and identifies the new landlord. Missing this seven-day window is a statutory violation.

What Happens If the Tenant Disputes

A tenant who receives a personal-occupation termination notice has 15 days to apply for a review by a Residential Tenancies Officer. Mobile home site tenants also have a 15-day review period under Section 25.6. If the tenant does not file within 15 days, they are deemed to have accepted the termination. If they dispute, the Officer investigates whether the stated ground is genuine. A landlord who cannot demonstrate good-faith intent to occupy (or have a qualifying family member occupy) risks having the notice set aside.

Post-Termination Restrictions

If the tenant vacates based on a personal-occupation notice, the landlord or buyer must actually occupy the property within two months. Re-listing the unit for rent to a new tenant at a higher rate within that window is a breach of the Act. A displaced tenant can apply to a Residential Tenancies Officer within two years for compensation covering moving expenses, rent differentials, and other actual losses.

The Ending a Tenancy in New Brunswick guide covers the full property-sale workflow, including the date math for aligning your notice with closing, the Form 8 requirements, and what documentation the Tribunal expects if the tenant disputes.

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