FREDERICTON (GNB) – Proposed amendments to the Residential Tenancies Act would allow landlords and tenants to serve official notices or documents electronically.

“These amendments will allow us to modernize how we communicate between all parties,” said Service New Brunswick Minister Serge Rousselle, who introduced the amendments today in the legislature. “The Residential Tenancies Tribunal has received numerous requests from both landlords and tenants to have this legislation updated to allow notices, documents or forms required under the act to be served by use of electronic communication.”

The act outlines the details, rights and obligations of residential landlords and tenants, as well as the process that needs to be followed in order to enforce these rights and obligations.

Rousselle said the amendments do not take away from existing legislation.

“With the use of modern technology, Service New Brunswick wanted to incorporate the most common means of communication used by landlords and tenants today,” said Rousselle. “Current legislation for service needed to be updated, as it was limited to regular mail, fax or delivery by hand.”

Under the amendments, notices or documents would be delivered electronically when an email address is provided in the Standard Form of Lease agreement.

More information is available online.