Residential Lease Agreements (Ontario) | Tenancy Agreements (Part 6)

Posted by admin on Tuesday, January 18, 2011 · Leave a Comment

Please note that all the information offered herein is not legal advice and is provided for informational and educational purposes only. If you really need legal advice with respect to a residential lease or a tenancy agreement, you should seek professional assistance (e.g. make a post on Dynamic Lawyers). They have Toronto, Ottawa, Hamilton, Brampton, Mississauga and other Ontario lawyers registered to help you.

Ontario residential lease agreement

This is the sixth of a series of blogs about residential lease agreements in Ontario. In this blog, Toronto Lawyer Michael Carabash will be discussing additional nuances about terminating a residential lease agreement.

A landlord can only terminate the tenancy in accordance with the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006. That’s what section 37(1) says: “only in accordance with the Act.” So what does the Act say? Some of the nuances in which a tenancy can end:

Tenancy Security
Tenants who sign tenancy agreements (also called lease agreements) have something called “security of tenancy”. This means that a tenant can continue to occupy their rental until until:

* he or she decides to leave and gives the landlord proper notice;
* the landlord and tenant agree to end the tenancy; or
* the landlord gives the tenant notice to end the tenancy under the Act and the tenant agrees to move or the landlord gets an eviction order from the Landlord and Tenant Board.

If the Landlord wants to give NOTICE that they are going to end the tenancy, then the Landlord must apply to the Landlord and Tenant Board for an eviction order. The Tenant has the right to go to the hearing and explain why they shouldn’t be evicted. If the Landlord gets the eviction order, then the Tenant may be forcibly removed (assuming they haven’t previously left) when the order becomes effective.

Changing the Locks
It is ILLEGAL for a Landlord to change the locks to a rental unit or the building without giving the Tenant a key. The ONLY EXCEPTIONS are where the locks are changed because the Tenant was evicted by a Sheriff or the Landlord is sure that the Tenant has abandoned the unit. If the Landlord changes the locks illegally, they could be charged under the Provincial Offenses Act and, fined up to $25,000 if they are an individual or up to $100,000 if they are a corporation, if found guilty.

Agreement to End Tenancy
A Landlord and a Tenant can agree to end their tenancy at any time, even during the term of the lease. It’s best to have a written agreement . Importantly, a Landlord who requires that the Tenant sign one of these forms at the BEGINNING of their relationship (i.e. along with signing the tenancy agreement) will effectively render the Agreement to End Tenancy INVALID AND UNENFORCEABLE! There are certain exemptions for student housing and care homes.

Tenant Changes their Minds?
If the Tenant changes their minds, the Landlord has a decision to make: allow the Tenant to stay or apply to the Board for an eviction order if the Tenant stays unwanted. Most important, if the Landlord seeks an eviction order from the Board, there won’t be any notice given to the Tenant that it’s coming: the Tenant will simply receive the eviction order from the Board. If he or she believes that the eviction order should not have been given, then they can apply to the Board to stop the eviction. It’s a kind of different procedure here because it’s after the fact (i.e. after the order has been given).

Applications to the Board
A Landlord can apply to the Board for approval to end a tenancy if:

* the Tenant abandoned the rental unit; or
* the Landlord and Tenant have an Agreement to end the tenancy;
* the Landlord wants to evict an unauthorized occupant;
* the Tenant gave the Landlord a notice to end the tenancy;
* the Tenant breached a condition of the Board;
* the Landlord gave the Tenant notice to end the tenancy;
* the Tenant was the superintendent and the superintendent’s employment has finished.

Deadline
The deadline for a Landlord to apply to the Board is usually 30 days of the termination date set out in the notice. On the other hand, there is no deadline for making an application to terminate a tenancy where the landlord has given the Tenant a Notice to End a Tenancy early for non-payment of rent.

Hearing:
A hearing will be scheduled by the Board to hear the Landlord’s application unless the application was made because the tenant:

* gave the landlord a notice to end the tenancy, or
* made an agreement with the landlord to end the tenancy, or
* breached a condition of a Board order.

There are three types of hearings and that is decided by the Board:

* an oral hearing, where the landlord and tenant appear in person before a Member (this is the most common type of hearing),
* a video conference hearing, where the hearing takes place using a video camera link between the Member, the landlord and the tenant, or
* a telephone hearing, where the hearing takes place using a telephone link between the Member, the landlord and the tenant.

The Landlord must inform the Tenant of the hearing by giving a copy of the Notice of Hearing AND a copy of their application to the Tenant. There will be a deadline to provide these documents.

The Hearing
At the hearing, everyone involved states his/her case: the Landlord will have to prove that the tenant should be evicted. The Tenant can attend and explain why they shouldn’t. The Board will render a decision based on all the circumstances of the case. The Board then makes an order in writing which will be sent by mail to both the Landlord and the Tenant.

Enforcing an Eviction Order
If the Board orders an eviction, then the Tenant doesn’t need to leave immediately. Rather, they can stay until a Sheriff (a court enforcement officer) evicts them. The Landlord must file a copy of the Board order with the Sheriff’s office and pay a fee to have the order enforced. The Sheriff will then provide notice to the Tenant to have their things packed and gone by a certain date or else they will be forcibly removed.

For a Landlord who are looking for an residential lease agreement Agreement, just go here:
Residential Lease Agreement (Ontario)

A Landlord can use this Agreement to rent out a residential unit and it also comes with a Rental Application. All of Dynamic Lawyers‘ legal forms are lawyer-prepared, simple to read, easy to customize, and only a fraction of the price a lawyer would charge. Also, each legal form comes with a FREE VIDEO GUIDE (watch a useful example of how this legal form can be customized), a FREE DL GUIDE (read helpful information about this legal form), and another FREE DL GUIDE that sheds valuable insight into how legal forms can be challenged.

This information is NOT legal advice and is provided for informational purposes only. If you need an Ontario lawyer, go to Dynamic Lawyers and make a post.

Here is a sample video :