Start here: The Residential Tenancy Act covers many BC rental units but expressly excludes some arrangements. Sharing a kitchen or bathroom with the owner, certain student residences, a co-op member’s home and a pure roommate disagreement may fall outside RTB authority.
What to check first
Check the actual living arrangement, who owns the accommodation, and whether the person making the claim is a landlord or only a roommate.
Next steps
If the RTB cannot hear the matter, use the appropriate other dispute or court route instead of automatically filing RTB-12T or RTB-12L.
Important exception or mistake
An agreement labelled “roommate” does not by itself settle jurisdiction. The facts and statute matter.
Keep for your records
Keep the original notice or agreement, messages with dates, payment records, proof of delivery and any hearing confirmation. The rules can differ depending on the request and how the papers were delivered.