BristolUK

There was a report in the newspaper here yesterday of a guy who was carrying on the family business but he wasn't keen on doing it anymore. He had been waiting for "a sign" that would make it okay to stop.

He had three cheques left and three bills to pay. That was his sign so he stopped.

TheAwesomeMatt

I've lived in Canada for 10 years now and have never used cheques, what situations are people using them for?

tweed_wearer

Our landlord will only take cheques. To set up the direct debit with the daycare required a void cheque.

BristolUK

I've had a roofer and a tree feller willing to take cheques. I didn't take them up on it
I vaguely recall a charity donation by cheque too.

Siouxie

A friend has to pay their rent by cheque too (in this case, post dated 6 cheques at a time) - the landlord won't accept direct deposit or e-transfer. Crazy!

BristolUK

Newfangled tech...who wants that?

scrubbedexpat091

For us only rent. The management company who we rent from only accept cheques, and so far in my 14 years I have not had a landlord yet who would accept debit or credit or direct payment via bank, always has to be a cheque, only reason I buy cheques to pay rent.

scrubbedexpat091

We don't have to provide post dated cheques, but its a pain to have to go downtown and drop cheque off each month, so to make it easier we provide 12 each November for the year and of course when moving deposits are nearly always returned back in the form of a cheque a 10 or so days later by mail.

Maybe by 2050 cheques will be less common lol

Even with jobs with direct deposit, the last cheque in my experience tends to always be a paper one so the company can ensure return of company property cause you have to physically go in and get the last cheque.

Almost Canadian

I would send them an etransfer and I would bet they would accept it, as they have too. A landlord can't evict if payment is proffered and they refuse to accept it.

Siouxie

e-transfer is only possible with an e-mail address, which the landlord hasn't given, apparently. All communicationss are via text or physical letter. I will mention it to them though, in case that sittuation ever arises.

scrubbedexpat091

Yes we don't have our landlords email either, its a faceless company, we have a phone number we can call to leave a voicemail though and mailing address. But we don't have an individual landlord, they are a large developer who owns thousands of condos in Vancouver.

I wonder if I tried (assuming I had an email) to pay by e-transfer what the RTB would say if the landlord refused it, the RTB website isn't super specific, but does state method of payment can be specified in the rental agreement, and since our rental agreement does specifically state rent will be paid by providing post dated cheques that if we refused to provide said cheques we would be in breach of our tenancy agreement.

I have about 4 years of cheques that were provided free at time of account opening where an e-transfer is 90 cents each, and $0 is better than $0.90..... lol

This is all I could find about method of payment for rent.

"The tenancy agreement can specify the forms in which rent can be paid (cash, cheque, electronic transfer, etc.). For example, post-dated cheques can be requested as long as it’s a term included in the agreement and when the tenant moves out, any remaining cheques are returned.

Receipts must be provided for rent paid in cash. This proves that the rent was paid – both landlords and tenants should keep their copy of rent receipts in a safe place."

https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/h...cy/paying-rent

Engineer_abroad

BristolUK

Method of payment and whether a landlord could refuse a particular method might be one of those things that varies across the provinces.

I don't recall anything specific about it in the NB acts but then a tenancy can be ended by either party - subject to notice - with no reason given, unless there is tenure, which happens after 5 years. So even if one could argue that a landlord can't refuse payment and can't evict if payment has been proffered, that's not much good if the landlord then gives notice. Not that they necessarily would, of course, but if the landlord was having other issues from that tenant, it could be a deciding factor in the tenancy ending.
There used to be a fee charged by my bank for e-payments but it's free now.

Almost Canadian

So? Send two payments and, as long as each are received prior to the due date, no issues.

MillieF

When I opened an account here with TD I got a 'free' cheque book! Yippee! I needed a couple of cheques for all sorts of things, mainly to do with school trips, school photos etc. After the cheque book ran out after a few years I asked for a new one and they charged me $40! A full and frank discussion concerning Canadian banking practices got my $40 returned.

I asked for a US $ line on my current account and you'd have thought I'd asked for the moon. I got it but what a palaver. When I told them I had Sterling, US & Canadian and Euros on the one account in Europe they looked horrified.

The charges this mob try to run up on your accounts are phenomenal, but that's just banks...once you get to car and home insurance and cell phones billing and dodgy practices you could devote your lifetime to it.

It is just the Canadian way. Canadians don't expect or demand better service and that's largely why they don't get it.

Canadians are nice and polite and long suffering, but big money isn't and is taking advantage left right and center.