Being a landlord is really, really difficult in Ontario in 2021.
I’ll admit, I’m not a fan of the changes that the Liberal government made in 2017 which basically took away any modicum of power or leverage that landlords had at the time, which was already about as close to zero as you could get.
Having said that, the rules are the rules. If you don’t like them, then don’t play.
While I am a capitalist, I believe in real estate as an investment vehicle, and I believe that existing landlord-tenant law and legislation is painfully slanted towards tenants, I also believe that if you decide to become a landlord, you’d better understand and accept those laws and that legislation.
Many don’t, however.
And as tempted as I am to “name names” here on this blog today, the old adage, two wrongs don’t make a right holds true.
So instead, I’m going to provide you with an email chain between one of our clients and his landlord that serves as a fantastic example of how some landlords just don’t understand current the rules, or worse, don’t care.
And that’s where all this becomes a little cloudy because I honestly believe that there’s a fine line between ignorance and arrogance when it comes to landlord/tenant laws.
It’s too easy for a landlord to simply say, “Oops, my mistake! I didn’t know.”
You’re supposed to know. That’s the deal. You sign up to be a landlord, you’d better understand the rules.
So when a landlord tries to illegally evict a tenant, or illegally raise their rent, or force them to sign a new lease, I feel as though many of them are doing so purposefully. They’re knowingly doing something illegal, but they can always pass it off as a mistake.
But what is a mistake?
How do you define that? Or better, how do you prove it?
What are the repercussions and consequences for a mistake compared to actions with intent?
Hmm….I wonder if we can draw on examples outside of the real estate arena for some quick learning?
Let’s say that you took your family over to the local Home Depot on a rainy Sunday morning to look for some Halloween decorations, after which, your wife stopped at Starbucks to get some banana bread for the kids and a coffee for herself. Now, let’s also say that she loves you so much that she bought you not one but two breakfast sandwiches that you didn’t really ask for. Now, and here’s the really important part: let’s say that you knew you were going for a 14KM run in an hour but you decided to eat one of those breakfast sandwiches. Is that a mistake? Who knows, right? But let’s also say that you decided, for some reason, to muck the second breakfast sandwich, thereby causing you to gracefully upchuck on prestigious Bessborough Drive about ninety minutes later.
Mistake?
I mean, who could say, right? We’re not rocket scientists here!
Ignorance cannot be an excuse for painful consequences, but when it comes to the landlord/tenant legislation, I feel as though it’s impossible to distinguish between ignorance and arrogance. I’m sorry, but I just don’t believe that some landlords can be so stupid.
Here’s an email that our client recently received:
Good afternoon Brian,
This is a friendly reminder that your current Lease will expire as of December 17th, 2021.
Please can you advise us by the end of September 30th, 2021, if you are going to be requiring a new lease going forward for another year?
Thank you kindly, and have a great day.
Samantha
–
Fair, right?
Except that there’s one problem here; the landlord asked, “…if you are going to be requiring a new lease going forward for another year.”
Perhaps the landlord is ignorant. Maybe she isn’t aware that tenants automatically go month-to-month after a one-year lease expires, and perhaps she’s offering a new one-year lease out of the goodness of her heart!
Yes! Let’s be positive! Let’s assume the best in people!
Alright, so this landlord is a wonderful person who is helping our client by offering a one-year lease. Sure. We’ll go with that.
Our client writes back:
Hi Cindy,
Sorry been on vacation the last couple weeks. Just got your voicemail.
Would it be possible to move to a month-to-month lease?
Thanks,
Brian
–
No problem!
Our client, handling this on his own at first, simply asked if he could go month-to-month.
The answer to this question is YES.
Yes, you can go month-to-month, since that’s the legal outcome when a year-lease expires in the province of Ontario.
Good for Brian for asking, and it’s too bad that the landlord didn’t offer him this option to begin with. It might have made sense to ask, “Can you advise us if you intend to vacate or stay upon the conclusion of your one-year lease, and if you are staying, if you would prefer to go month-to-month as is mandated by law, or sign a new one-year lease?”
That would have made a lot of sense, right? Get everything out there, in the open, put all the cards on the table.
But the landlord, we think, was being helpful, right?
Um, no…
Hello Brian,
Sorry, but we are not comfortable providing you with a month to month lease.
Please advise us no later than October 17th what your intentions would be. The new rent would be $2,150.00
Thank you kindly, and have a great day.
Samantha
–
Oh, bugger off, Samantha!
And to think I gave you the benefit of the doubt!
Samantha, you are either ignorant or arrogant, and I don’t know which is worse.
Folks, this is so common out there these days, it makes me sick.
First of all, Samantha is refusing to allow Brian to continue to lease the condo on a month-to-month lease, which is mandated by law.
Second of all, Samantha is now telling Brian that his “new rent” would be $2,150/month, when his existing rent is $1,950/month.
Samantha, do you have any idea what you’re doing?
Ignorance or arrogance, I don’t know. But I think it’s the latter, I really do. I think these landlords just don’t care since they feel they can always please ignorance in the end.
If you’re a landlord in the province of Ontario, I find it so hard to believe you’re not familiar with the concept of “allowable rent increases.”
Not only that, I find it even harder to believe that a landlord could be unaware of the rent freeze that the pandemic brought about last year, since it was in the news every single day.
Furthermore, I find it impossible to believe that a landlord isn’t familiar with Google, and/or has broken fingers and can’t type “rent increase Ontario” into a search engine and find this link:
https://news.ontario.ca/en/bulletin/1000340/ontarios-2022-rent-increase-guideline
Do you know what that is?
That’s a very easy-to-read paragraph about the laws that govern landlords! Yes! Things like “rent increases” are spelled out in layman’s terms so even somebody like Samantha can understand it.
Based on the Ontario Consumer Price Index (CPI), the guideline on rent increases for 2022 in Ontario is 1.2 per cent. The CPI is a measure of inflation calculated monthly by Statistics Canada using data that reflects economic conditions over the past year.
The guideline applies to most residential rental accommodations covered by the Residential Tenancies Act. It does not apply to rental units in buildings occupied for the first time after November 15, 2018, social housing units, long-term care homes or commercial property.
The rent increase guideline is the maximum most landlords can raise a tenant’s rent without the approval of the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB). It is applicable to most rent increases between January 1 and December 31, 2022.
Ontario has frozen rent for the vast majority of tenants in 2021. To support renters, the 2021 rent increase guideline was set at 0 per cent.
Rent increases are not automatic or mandatory. Landlords may only raise rent if they gave tenants at least 90 days written notice using the correct form. In most cases, the rent increase cannot be more than the rent increase guideline. In addition, at least 12 months must have passed since the first day of the tenancy or the last rent increase. If a tenant believes they have received an improper rent increase, they may dispute it at the LTB within 12 months.
–
Pretty cut-and-dry stuff, huh folks?
Not only is Samantha not allowed to force a new one-year lease on Brian, but her attempt to illegally raise his rent has so many holes in it.
Ontario has frozen rent in 2021. Hard stop. Samantha cannot raise Brian’s rent until 2022, but even then, she can only do so by 1.2%.
Not only that, even if it were legal, which it’s not, Samantha would need to provide Brian with a signed N1 form at least 90 days in advance of the end of his one-year lease. The dates above just don’t add up. Samantha emailed Brian and asked for him to respond by September 30th, even though his lease is up on December 17th. That’s not 90 days.
But then, Samantha told Brian in a subsequent email to let her know about the new one-year lease by October 17th, which of course is only sixty days’ notice. That makes no sense.
Does she not know what legal steps she must take, or does she just not care?
The icing on the cake came last Friday when the landlord, “Samantha,” called Brian and left a voicemail on his phone!
She essentially said that if he did not sign a new one-year lease at $1,950 per month by the end of the weekend then she would start showing the condo to prospective new tenants.
He already has her emails in hand, if he ever wanted to go to the Landlord & Tenant Board.
But now he has a voicemail with a threat.
That’s what this was, make no mistake. When you explain the consequences of inaction, ie. “X will happen if you don’t do Y,” then that is a threat.
Is there any doubting Samantha’s true intentions now?
This is no accident. There’s no mistake here.
And if there were, then it’s pathetic. For a landlord to be so ignorant would actually be worse than her just being a shitty human. I think I’d have more faith in humanity to know there’s a really awful person who is smart and calculated than to know there’s a complete moron out there trying to work her way out of a paper bag…
This happens all the time, folks
I wrote about this last March:
“Illegal Evictions: Real Life Examples!”
And in one of those stories, the tenant simply caved and signed a new lease, which was illegally forced upon her, at a new price, which was an illegal raising of her rent. She said, “I didn’t have the stomach to fight.”
That’s sad.
Both for her as well as for the legislation in place to protect renters, since that legislation merely existed in this case, but wasn’t put into practice.
In the end, the very reason why landlords break the rules is because they know probably half of the renters will back down. And even if it’s a third, or a quarter, what are the repercussions for these landlords?
Let’s say that our client, Brian, tells Samantha to go fly a kite. Will she make his life miserable? Probably.
Now, let’s say that Brian drafts a well-crafted email to Samantha, highlighting each of the ways in which she’s offended the Landlord & Tenant Act, while hyperlinking to legislation on the Ontario government website, and let’s say he CC’s his local MPP.
Then what?
Samantha backs down, Brian stays in the condo on a month-to-month basis, at his current rent, has his rent raised 1.2% in January, and absolutely nothing happens to Samantha for trying to screw Brian over.
Such is the plight of the rental market in 2021.
So let me finish with this: if you’re a renter and you found this blog on Google somewhere, maybe a month or two years from now, do NOT back down. Take the link I posted above and read it. Learn it. Then email your landlord back and stand up for yourself. And copy your local MPP on the email, why not? Hell, copy Diamond & Diamond for all I care. Just do something to show your landlord you won’t be pushed around.
For the landlords among you who are reading this – it’s not worth it, trust me. Tenants have all the power, and sooner or later you’re going to find a tenant who does know his or her rights, and they’ll stop paying rent, it’ll take you eighteen months to get them out, and you won’t see a penny after somebody at the LTB sides with the tenant. Trust me on this, it’s not worth it.
Happy Monday, folks!
Appraiser
at 8:24 am
As a landlord for over 20 years, I have to agree that the landlord / tenant equation seems to have always been slanted in the direction of the tenant.
Perhaps as it should. However I think the regulators have gone far enough in that regard.
As for landlords breaking the rules. Crooks ‘gonna crook.
Eddy Chang
at 9:23 am
Hey I follow your blog and love your posts. Recently as a landlord I found a website
called landlord credit bureau which helps landlord file missed rent payment and it affects tenants credit score. Can you write a blog about this? I feel landlord need some assistance on this matter since the law is there to protect tenants not landlords.
Sirgruper
at 9:29 am
The problem that many small landlord’s have is that these rules are counter intuitive. I have one landlord who would have that same conversation and every year she’ll be surprised by the rules. You deal with it every day. Sideline investors often don’t. The run question was easy. Save that breakfast sandwich for after the run
You are building fast. You were 12 k a few weeks ago and your Sunday long is north of 22k. I smell a marathon. If so you are familiar with Gu. Good luck writing your blog Sunday night after your 36k Sunday long I’m guessing in about a month:)
Steve
at 10:13 am
This is why when I was still renting I eventually got jack of small time landlords and went to an apartment building that was run by a larger and relatively reputable company. They might still try to screw you eventually but at least they know the rules of the game.
Richard
at 11:12 pm
Hahaha screw the law , if the tenant does not pay rent , I’ll hire some bikers to deal with it . And by the way your dreaming if you think that won’t work . Cause you’ll shit your pants when they come calling
Ashley
at 7:56 am
So … you believe that you should be allowed to break the law whenever you want because you feel like it?
You see why maybe some people think all landlords are scum?
Mxyzptlk
at 12:22 pm
Well done, Ashley.
Condodweller
at 10:27 am
Humans were evolved to run long enough to catch their dinner or not become dinner. What do we do this to ourselves? There is a reason the first guy who ran the marathon died.
Depends on how hard you run. If you are running long distance I doubt you are going to run fast enough to chuck your sandwich. Personally, I’d just wait an hour after eating or wait until after the run.
R
at 6:38 pm
Avoid Gu. Unless you want to barf candy flavour slime. 😉
Try Endurance Tap. All natural maple syrup and sea salt with ginger for easy digestion.
R
PS. 12->22k long run in a few weeks is too quick a build. You really shouldn’t up weekly mileage more than about +20%/week. Especially if you are a new runner.
David Fleming
at 9:20 am
@ Sigruper & R
Guys, guys, I’m flattered that somehow you read I’m running 22 KM on Sunday but I said 14! 🙂
I’m going to try a 16 KM run this weekend or next but I don’t foresee getting over 20KM.
I’m still very new at this. I ran the Waterloo 10 KM on Father’s Day in 1996 and then didn’t run 10KM again until the summer of 2020! Until this year, I had never run more than 10KM in my life. I would have done the half-marathon this year but apparently it was “virtual” so that wasn’t in the cards. If there’s a Toronto half-marathon in the spring, I’ll do it!
I’ll look into Gu. And Endurance Tap. Thx guys!
AK
at 12:41 am
“Sign a new lease. Otherwise I will take the unit back for my own use”
David (Not the David who runs this website)
at 10:12 am
Many years ago when I rented a condo, the guy who owned my unit wanted to talk to me at the end of my lease. When I went to meet him, I brought a printed out copy of the landlord tenant act, just to show him that I knew what the rules were. He wondered about signing a new lease and I showed him that the landlord tenant act doesn’t require one at the end of a lease.
A few years later, I moved out and left the condo unit in a clean, spotless condition. I was and continue to be a very good tenant and I read up on the rules. These days with everything available in full detail, I’m surprised that many out there don’t know the rules.
David, you’re 100% correct that all landlords should know the rules inside and out before they get into the game. It wouldn’t hurt most tenants to know them too.
Condodweller
at 10:21 am
Being a landlord is like fatherhood. You learn on the job.
What’s the point of signing a new lease after the first one? Even during the first year, I’d rather the tenant leave after 8 months than just stop paying rent and stick around for the next four.
Just a small detail but I believe the law said you couldn’t give notice in 2021, not that you couldn’t raise the rent. Subtle difference but as long as we’re talking follow the law, let’s follow the law. Am I the only one who legally raised rent in 2021?
T
at 11:01 am
as per https://stepstojustice.ca/questions/housing-law/how-much-can-my-rent-go/
“The rent increase guideline for the year 2021 is zero percent. This means that your landlord cannot raise your rent at all from January 1, 2021 to December 31, 2021.”
You would need a special reason to override the rent freeze.
Condodweller
at 6:52 pm
When you have a good relationship with your tenant and both parties agree and are happy there is no need for laws.
Geoff
at 5:41 pm
Rare to see a coherent argument fall apart so quickly in real time. “I legally raised the rent in 2021.” “That’s against the law.” “When both parties are happy, there’s no need for laws.” So did you legally raise the rent, really? (I can’t imagine people are happy to pay more for anything but damn you must be persuasive to get someone who knew you couldn’t raise the rent to agree to it.)
Richard
at 11:12 pm
Hahaha screw the law , if the tenant does not pay rent , I’ll hire some bikers to deal with it . And by the way your dreaming if you think that won’t work . Cause you’ll shit your pants when they come calling
Mxyzptlk
at 12:27 pm
Ya, we heard you the first time, tough guy.
Rick
at 1:15 pm
lol please call the bikers on me, they are probably my friends so we will get together and come to your place and trust me I won’t be the one with broken legs and out a few grand.
Somebody
at 4:40 pm
We have had 2 years of the landlord issuing us an N1 notice that had rent way above the rent increase guidelines, and which we we contested every time and they backed down.
Now they issued us an N12 as they sold the property and the LTB told us on the phone that the illegal N1 has no bearing on the N12 and our requirement to vacate as we never accepted the illegal rent increase!
So basically the more naive one is the better. Ideally just accept the illegal rent increase and then take the landlord to the LTB is what the LTB seemed to be recommending we should have done!