Rent Increases After Buying a Tenanted Property in Alberta

You've just purchased a rental property in Alberta with an existing tenant in place. The rent is below market, and you want to bring it up. Before you draft that notice, there's a timing rule that catches nearly every new landlord by surprise: the 365-day clock doesn't reset when the property changes hands.

The Clock Belongs to the Tenancy, Not the Owner

Under Alberta's Residential Tenancies Act, the 365-day frequency rule attaches to the tenancy and the unit — not to the landlord personally. When you buy a property with an active tenancy, you inherit the tenant's entire tenancy history, including:

• The tenancy commencement date
• The date of the last rent increase (if any)
• The current rent amount
• The terms of the existing tenancy agreement

A property sale does not create a new tenancy. The tenant's rights and timeline carry over uninterrupted. The same applies if you inherit a property through an estate — the 365-day clock keeps running from wherever the previous owner left it.

Finding Your Starting Date

Before you can calculate when you're eligible to raise rent, you need to know the history. Ask the seller (or their property manager) for:

• The tenancy commencement date — when the tenant first moved in
• The date of the last rent increase — the effective date, not the notice date
• The current rent amount — what the tenant is actually paying now
• The tenancy agreement — whether it's fixed-term or periodic, and the rent-due date

If the previous owner never raised rent, your 365-day clock starts from the tenancy commencement date. If rent was raised previously, the clock starts from the effective date of that last increase.

Example: Buying a Property Mid-Tenancy

You purchase a rental property on September 1, 2026. The tenant has been there since March 1, 2026, paying $1,500 per month. The previous owner never increased the rent.

• 365-day eligible date: March 1, 2026 + 365 days = March 1, 2027
• Earliest effective date: March 1, 2027 (assuming it aligns with the rent-due date)
• Notice deadline (monthly tenancy, rent due 1st): November 30, 2026 — three full tenancy months before March 1 (December, January, February)

You've owned the property since September 1, but the tenancy started March 1. Your increase timeline is built around the tenancy, not your purchase date.

What If the Previous Owner Already Raised Rent?

Say the previous owner raised rent from $1,400 to $1,500 effective June 1, 2026, and you bought the property on September 1, 2026.

• 365-day eligible date: June 1, 2026 + 365 days = June 1, 2027
• Earliest effective date: June 1, 2027
• Notice deadline: February 28, 2027

Even though you've owned the property for nine months by the time you can raise rent, the clock started from the previous owner's increase — which you inherited.

Switching Property Managers Doesn't Help

If you hire a property management company or switch from the seller's manager to your own, that change has no effect on the 365-day clock. Management is an operational arrangement; the tenancy itself continues unchanged.

Fixed-Term Leases Add Another Layer

If the existing tenant is on a fixed-term lease, you can't increase rent until the lease expires — regardless of whether 365 days have passed. You inherit the lease terms along with the tenancy.

At lease expiry, if 365 days have elapsed since the tenancy started (or the last increase), you can negotiate a new rent for the next agreement. If you and the tenant agree to continue as a month-to-month tenancy, periodic rules apply and you must serve written notice with the standard three-full-month lead time.

Protecting Yourself at Purchase

Before completing the purchase of a tenanted property, get the tenancy documentation in writing. The 365-day history is essential for planning your first increase, and reconstructing it after the sale closes can be difficult if the seller didn't keep clean records.

If the seller can't provide the date of the last rent increase, request additional rent records before calculating an increase. The 365-day clock runs from the later of the tenancy commencement date or the effective date of the last rent increase; do not assume the commencement date controls if a later increase may have occurred.

The Alberta Rent Increase Guide covers the inherited-tenancy scenario in detail, including how to calculate your first eligible increase date and how the notice timeline shifts when a lease is still active at purchase.

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