How Many Toronto Property Owners are Leaving Homes Vacant Due to the Fear of Being a Landlord?  An acquaintance of mine has a condo that she bought before she got married. Instead of selling when she bought a home with her husband, she has rented to various tenants over the years. Recently, she posted on Facebook that she would rather let the condo stay empty than rent it out to anyone again after bad experiences with tenants.  That got me wondering how many potential rental units are off the market due to the chilling effect of either having had a bad experience with a tenant or bei ..read more

Evicting a Family Member in Ontario  We all want to help people, and especially family. But sometimes that desire to help can turn into a situation where you need to evict a family member. How can you go about it legally in Ontario?  The first step is to determine if the family member qualifies as a tenant under the Residential Tenancies Act. If they are living in a standalone property and not sharing a kitchen or bathroom with the property owner, they can be evicted using the proper methods required by the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB), outlined here. If they are living in your ho ..read more

Your Responsibilities for Repairs as a Toronto Landlord  Under the Residential Tenancies Act (RTA), landlords are required to keep everything in the property in working order. This usually refers to things such as appliances, carpets, windows, doors, and lighting.  The main dividing line between something a tenant is responsible for versus something a landlord takes responsibility for is if the item is no longer functional. For example, if a lightbulb burns out, your tenant is expected to replace that as the lighting fixture still works. If, however, they replace the bulb and the lig ..read more

Crowdsourced Registry Lets Toronto Landlords Vet Tenants It involves a lot of paperwork, takes time, and can be stressful. But there’s no way around it – tenant vetting is a daunting, but necessary, part of being a landlord. Letting someone live in your property isn’t without risk, so you need to run through extensive checks before handing over the keys. Police checks, employment records, and credit checks are all important ways to build trust but you’ll also want to know if your tenant has run into problems with landlords before. Problem tenants are often repeat offenders, taking advantage o ..read more

The average rent in Toronto hit a high of $2,832 last year, making it one of Canada’s most expensive cities, and the outlook for 2024 is little better as demand continues to surge in a market that’s grossly undersupplied.  For students and young professionals, it’s almost impossible to get on the property ladder and tough to make rent. In the search for affordable housing, many are turning to shared accommodations to make their budget go further. Rooming houses may be a way to keep a roof over the head of a cash-strapped student, but are they legal? And what should landlords know if they ..read more

Desperate Toronto landlords are increasingly turning to a new strategy to oust reluctant tenants, offering them money to vacate their units. Known as ‘cash for keys’ this tactic is on the rise across the city, according to a recent report.  It’s not hard to see why. Landlords have few options when it comes to clearing their unit. They can evict their tenants (but must have grounds to do so), they can move into the property themselves, they can renovate (known as a renoviction), or they can buy the tenant out. With delays still plaguing the Landlord and Tenant Board, it could take months t ..read more

Becoming a landlord can sometimes feel like stepping into a regulatory minefield. It’s not enough to have a well-situated, well-maintained apartment – your property also has to meet certain building standards and codes. Overlooking these crucial details could mean extensive renovations, losing tenants, or even incurring fines. What regulations do Toronto landlords need to know?   When it comes to illegal units in Toronto, the most common offenders are basement apartments. As with all rental units, these must comply with the Property Standards Bylaw which deals with common concerns such as ..read more

Properties, like people, age. Whether they age well is up to you and your tenant.  A little wear and tear is normal for any occupied unit. A cracked tile, some peeling paint – these are all to be expected when someone lives in a home. But when does reasonable wear and tear cross the line into unreasonable damage?  That’s a question that’s been hotly debated at the Landlord and Tenant Tribunal of Ontario (LTB) as landlords and tenants rarely agree on where to draw the line, and who takes responsibility. Normal wear is the responsibility of the landlord, but it’s up to the tenant to ma ..read more

Holiday season is when industry forecasters look into their crystal balls and try to predict what’s coming round the corner. For the 2024 Toronto rental market, the outlook isn’t great.  Landlords are finding it harder to get tenants, according to a recent report, which indicates we’re entering a cooler market after several years of unprecedented growth. Demand is down and inventory is up, leading landlords to drop prices and offer incentives to catch the attention of prospective renters. The annual rate of rent inflation in Toronto dropped 0.8% in October, marking the first decrease sinc ..read more

Even the best tenants don’t stick around forever. Especially in Toronto’s turbulent rental market where demand and supply are both on the increase.  For landlords, getting notice from tenants can leave them blindsided and scrambling to fill an empty unit. Transitioning between renters isn’t just a case of ‘out with the old, in with the new’. Landlords need to think about finding new tenants, showing the apartment, fulfilling their obligations to the departing tenants, checking the property, and more. Tenant turnover doesn’t have to be stressful, however. Read on for our guide on how to ha ..read more