Q: What will happen if I do not give 1 months notice to my landlord? Will I only loose my damage deposit?
A, For a tenant to end a month-to-month tenancy, the tenant must provide the landlord with at least one clear calendar month’s written notice of his or her intention to end the tenancy. This means that if the tenant wants to end the tenancy on say February 28th, on or before January 30, 2005 the tenant must give the landlord written notice of his or her intention to terminate the tenancy.
If the tenant fails to give proper written notice to end the tenancy he or she can be held responsible for paying the rent until the tenancy is ended in accordance with the Residential Tenancy Act of British Columbia.
As for the second part of your question, a security deposit is simply a monetary deposit that the landlord holds as a security against damages, unpaid rent, etc. A landlord must return the damage deposit within 15 days of the end of the tenancy unless he has claimed against the deposit in accordance with the Act, or unless an Arbitrator has ordered that he can keep any or all of it.
My experience is that where tenants leave rental premises without proper notice, the landlord usually chases the tenants for as much unpaid rent as he thinks he might get. The landlord often presents substantial claims for damages in these cases and almost always wants the full security deposit forfeited.