Transcript RESIDENTIAL TENANCIES ACT, 2006

Everything You
Wanted to Know
About Renting,
Under the RTA
Legal Clinic Overview
• Legal services provided by clinics
– Ontario Works
– Ontario Disability
– Canada Pension Plan Disability
– Employment issues
– Employment Insurance
– Workplace Safety & Insurance Board
– Criminal Injuries Compensation
– Housing
– Education
Services We Provide to Tenants
• Information and legal advice for tenants who call
the legal clinic (hotline/calls back)
• Self-help legal advice and assistance for tenants
who are representing themselves before the
Landlord & Tenant Board (LTB)
• Full representation and legal advice (i.e. we act as
the tenant’s representative before LTB)
• Duty Counsel at LTB hearings; this is brief legal
advice and assistance for tenants on their hearing
day
• Important Note: Tenants should call us immediately
if they receive any paper work from their landlord,
especially if they receive a notice of hearing
Residential Tenancies Act
• The Residential Tenancies Act (RTA) governs
relationships between landlords and tenants in
Ontario
• The RTA creates the LTB www.ltb.gov.on.ca and
the Investigations and Enforcement Unit
When Does The RTA Apply?
• The RTA applies to all residential tenancies
– a tenant is a person who is supposed to pay rent
in return for the right to occupy (rent can be in
kind)
– roomer, boarder, and lodger situations included
• Except: The RTA does not apply when
– a tenant lives with the owner etc. and shares a
bathroom or kitchen with the owner etc.
– a tenant shares living space with the person they
rent from and that person is not the owner
(there are some other exemptions which are not
relevant to this presentation e.g. co-ops)
Investigations Unit
• Offences under the RTA
– Harassment
– Evicting without following the rules
– To withhold or interfere with the reasonable supply
of a vital service, (hydro, water, natural gas or
heating oil)
– For a landlord to enter a rental unit except in
situations allowed by the RTA
– To charge more rent than allowed under the RTA
– Failing to obey a work order from the Board or the
Maintenance and Standards Unit
– Failing to obey an order issued by the Board
• Offences Continued
– To give a document containing false or misleading
information to the Board or the Ministry of Municipal
Affairs and Housing
– Changing the locks on doors to the rental unit or
building without the landlord’s approval or without
giving a copy of the new keys to the tenant
– Failing to apply the last months rent deposit to the
rent for the last month of the tenancy
– Failing to pay the tenant interest on the rent deposit
when required
– Failing to provide rent receipts when requested by
the tenant
Investigations & Enforcement Unit 1-888-772-9277 press 1, then 0
LTB Application Process
• Landlord Applications
– Notice
– LL files an application
– Notification by the Board
of the hearing
– Consent Order prior to
hearing (possibility)
– Mediation (possibility)
– Hearing
– Order
– Last minute Payment (if
arrears application)
• Tenant Applications
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Tenant files an application
Mediation (possibility)
Hearing
Order
Tenant Rights - Under RTA
• Tenant Information Package
• Leases
– tenants do not have to sign a lease once
they are in the rental unit or move out
when it expires
– tenants do not have to renew their lease, it
automatically becomes a month to month
tenancy
– landlords must give tenants their
address/copy of lease within 21 days (right
to hold back rent)
Tenant Rights - Under RTA
• Discrimination
– the Ontario Human Rights Code applies in the
area of accommodation (illegal to discriminate
because of race/ancestry, origin, colour
citizenship, religion, sex, age, marital status,
disability, receipt of public assistance)
– landlords can refuse to rent to tenants
because of a bad credit rating, bad rental
history, or poor references
Tenant Rights - Under RTA
• Deposits
– key deposits are illegal
– damage deposits are illegal
– landlords may collect a last month’s rent
deposit; this is to be used for last month
(i.e. not returned to a tenant after they
move out)
– tenants are entitled to a set amount of
interest each year, (this may be deducted from
future rent, or the Landlord may use the money to
top up the last month’s rent deposit)
Tenant Rights - Under RTA
• Rent Increases
– landlords cannot increase the rent because
a tenant has someone else staying with
them or because they get a pet
– rent can only increase according to the
guideline (2008 is 1.4%, 2009 is 1.8%)
– 90 days written notice
– rent can only go up once every 12 months
– illegal rent increases or other illegal
charges become legal after one year
Tenant Rights - Under RTA
• Maintenance
– landlords are responsible for maintaining
the rental unit in a good state of repair
– it does not matter if the tenants were aware
of any problems before they moved in
– there is no such things as renting a place
on an “as is” basis
– tenants cannot be evicted because they
ask the landlord to do the repairs
Tenant Rights - Under RTA
• Privacy
– general rule is the landlord cannot enter
the rental unit
– there are exceptions to the rule:
• landlords can enter at any time if there is an
emergency or if the tenant agrees to let the
landlord in
• Privacy Continued
– the landlord must give 24 hours written
notice before they can enter the premises
between the hours of 8:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m.
• to make repairs to the rental unit
• to allow a potential mortgagee, purchaser,
lender, or insurer to view the unit
• to allow an inspection by an engineer or
architect or similar professional for a proposed
conversion under the Condominium Act;
• to inspect the rental unit
• for any other reasonable reason allowed in the
tenancy agreement
Tenant Rights – Under RTA
• Pets
– “no pet” rules are void
– a landlord cannot stop a tenant from
having a pet
– a landlord may refuse to rent to tenants if
they have a pet
– tenants may be evicted if the pet is
dangerous or causes a severe allergic
reaction to other tenants
Tenant Rights - Under RTA
• Terminating the tenancy
– tenants who rent month to month must give
60 days written notice that they are going to
move out even if they do not have a lease
– the move out date has to be for the last day of
the rental period (normally the last day of the
month)
Tenant Rights - Under RTA
• Eviction
– it is illegal for a landlord to change the locks
or interfere with access to a rental unit
unless the Sheriff has transferred
possession of the unit to the landlord
– the Sheriff can only transfer possession of
the rental unit if there has been an Order
from the LTB (“Board”)
– the Board can only issue an Order if the
landlord has filed an application to evict
Tenant Rights -Under RTA
• Personal possessions after tenancy ends
– access to unit to retrieve possessions for 72
hours after enforcement by Sheriff
– landlord cannot hold onto possessions
because the tenant owes rent (distress
abolished)
Enforcing Tenant Rights Under
RTA
• Tenant Applications
– one year limitation period for tenant
applications
– various tenant applications
• Tenant Rights
• Maintenance
Defences to Arrears Applications
• A tenant may raise in a landlord’s arrears
and eviction application any matter that
could be raised in a tenant’s application
(i.e. maintenance and disrepair, landlord
misconduct)
Websites
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www.communitylegalcentre.ca
www.ltb.gov.on.ca
www.cleo.on.ca
www.acto.ca
www.hastingshousing.com
www.landlordselfhelp.com