LAW 2101–LANDLORD AND TENANT LAW SECOND TERM EXAM
REVIEW Western University
□ bolded points are what will likely be included on the exam!!!!
Residential Tenancies Act (RTA)
• Provincial legislation enacted in 2006
• Applies to rental units in Ontario (apartment, house or room within a house)
• Governs relationship between landlords and tenants (not tenant and tenant)
• Sets out rights and responsibilities of each
• Regulations, Statutory Powers Procedure Act (only deals with procedural aspects not the
laws themselves), Rules of Practice, Interpretation Guidelines, Case law
RTA: What’s covered?
• Only residential units (NOT commercial)
o Therefore if a store in a mall has a dispute with the mall they would not look to the
residential tenancies act (there is a separate commercial one)
• Common exceptions (s. 5 RTA- where the act doesn’t apply):
o Hotel, motel, cottage, bed and breakfast, hospital / long term care
o Non-profit co-op housing
o Penal or correctional facilities
o Emergency shelter
o Units that require occupant to share a bathroom or kitchen facility with the owner
or owner’s spouse, child or parent (or spouse’s child or parent)
▪ Describing the typical boarder situation – where someone is living in someone else’s home
▪ You are renting a room from the home owner who lives in the house
▪ Here the act doesn’t apply
o Residence in a university
RTA: Application
• Landlord and Tenant Board hears disputes and makes orders (administrative board)
o You don’t go to court to resolve disputes you go here
• $ amount must be under $25,000 (s. 207 RTA)
• Dispute must be heard in a court if dispute is over $25,000
• If the RTA does NOT apply, there are still protections under the common law (Judge-made law)
and/or other statutes
o Advantage of RTA – its all contained in one act (including regulations etc.)
Basic procedure
• Landlords and tenants should speak to each other to resolve dispute
o If you can’t resolve the problem then you go to the board
• Tenants process:
o Tenant files Application with supporting docs. Filed with Lanloard tenant Board
o Board gives Notice of Hearing (another document)
o Tenant serves Application and Notice of Hearing on Landlord (tells them why you are applying
to the board)
o Possible Mediation, before the hearing the board will urge you to mediate (the board
has mediators that you can use)
o Hearing where a board member hears the dispute
• Landlords
o Notice of Termination served on Tenant (time to correct issue)
▪ If you pay your rent before the eviction date that the notice becomes useless (the
,landlord can’t take you to the board)
, o If no correction - Application with supporting docs.
o Filed with Board – Board gives Notice of Hearing
o Landlord serves Application and Notice of Hearing on Tenant
o Possible Mediation
o Hearing
Starting a Tenancy
A) The Application Process
• Tenancy Agreements / Leases can be written or oral (always best to have written agreement so terms
are clear)
o They don’t have to be in writing but its more effective if they are
• Terms (length of tenancy)
o Tenancy begins when tenant is entitled to occupy unit (s. 13(1) RTA) – not when you move
in
o Agreement takes effect even if unit is NOT occupied (s. 13(2) RTA)
▪ E.g. if you get the apt in may but don’t move in until Sept and they do repairs during the
time. You go up during the weekend and realize that you can’t use it because of that…
did they give you notice they were coming in, did they compensate you for the time you
can’t use it etc.
• Guarantors and co-signors
o Someone who is promising or agreeing to pay for any loses that the landlord may suffer as a result
of your tenancy
• The RTA is paramount of supreme with regards to signed leases
o Therefore if there is any part of your lease that conflicts with the RTA the RTA overrides it
• Practices in Selecting Tenants (s. 10 RTA and Human Rights Code - O. Reg. ):
S.1: (1) Landlord may request credit references, credit check and rental history
(2) Income information may only be requested with (1 – the above info)
S.2: Landlord can ask for a “guarantor”
S.4: Landlord can NOT refuse tenant based on enumerated grounds (race, ancestry, place of origin, colour,
ethnic origin, citizenship, sex, sexual orientation, age, marital status, family status, handicap or the receipt of
social assistance)
B) The Acceptance process
• Method of acceptance of agreement can be oral or written but there must be a “consensus ad idem”
• “Consensus ad idem”
o An agreement of parties to the same thing; a meeting of the minds (Black’s Law Dictionary)
• Requirements for written tenancy agreements (s.12 RTA)
o Must set out legal name and address of the landlord in the agreement itself (s. 12(1) RTA) –
you need to know who to contact if you have a legal problem
• If the agreement is in writing:
o Landlord must give a copy of the signed agreement to the tenant within 21 days of signing
(s. 12(2) RTA)
• If the agreement is NOT in writing:
o Landlord must give tenant written notice of legal name and address within 21 days after
the tenancy begins (s. 12(3) RTA)
• If the landlord fails to comply:
o The tenant’s obligation to pay rent is suspended
o Landlord cannot require tenant to pay rent (s. 12(4) RTA)
• After the landlord complies:
o Landlord can require tenant to pay any rent withheld due to landlord’s failure to provide
the agreement or legal name and address (s. 12(5) RTA)
, • “Void”
o Something is viewed as if it does not exist and never existed
• Acceleration clause “void” (they never existed)
o Provision in agreement that make the tenant pay extra (often full amount of rent owing
under remainder of lease) for:
▪ Defaulting on paying rent
▪ Not carrying out some obligation
o S. 15 of the RTA makes this type of clause in agreement “void”
• No pet provisions void
o Provision prohibiting the presence of pets in the rental unit are made void by the act under
s. 14 of the RTA
• Provision conflicting with Act “Void”
o Any provision in tenancy agreement or lease inconsistent with the RTA is void under s. 4 RTA
• Mediated Settlements = Exception
o Board may attempt to mediate settlement of any matter that is the subject of an Application
o Only if parties agree to mediation (s. 194 RTA)
• Settlement may override RTA
o Mediated settlement may override parts of the RTA (s. 193(3) RTA)
o Exception: Limit on the amount that settlement can increase rent
• Security of Tenure
o Tenancy may be terminated only in accordance with the RTA (s. 37(1) RTA)
o Tenancy can only be terminated by:
▪ An order of the Board
▪ Agreement between tenant and landlord
▪ Through proper legal notice (not necessary if agreement between tenant and landlord
to terminate)
C) Valid Tenancy Agreement
• Security deposits
o Money, property, or a right to do something
o Paid by a tenant and held by the landlord as security
o Usually to ensure the tenant lives up to certain obligations (rent, no damage, etc…)
o The only security deposit landlord can collect is a rent deposit
• (ss. 105(1) RTA)
• Rent deposit
o A landlord can require a tenant to pay a rent deposit
o May only do so on or before the day the tenant enters into the tenancy agreement – not
after entering agreement (s. 106(1) RTA)
• Maximum amount
o Amount of deposit cannot be more than rent for one rent period (whether weekly or monthly)
(s. 106(2) RTA)
• Post-dated cheques
o Landlord cannot require a tenant to provide post-dated cheques or automatic payment (s. 108
RTA)
• Additional charges prohibited (s. 134 RTA)
• Landlord may NOT:
o Collect a fee, premium, commission, penalty, key deposit or other money (refundable or not)
o Make the tenant purchase goods or services as a rental condition
REVIEW Western University
□ bolded points are what will likely be included on the exam!!!!
Residential Tenancies Act (RTA)
• Provincial legislation enacted in 2006
• Applies to rental units in Ontario (apartment, house or room within a house)
• Governs relationship between landlords and tenants (not tenant and tenant)
• Sets out rights and responsibilities of each
• Regulations, Statutory Powers Procedure Act (only deals with procedural aspects not the
laws themselves), Rules of Practice, Interpretation Guidelines, Case law
RTA: What’s covered?
• Only residential units (NOT commercial)
o Therefore if a store in a mall has a dispute with the mall they would not look to the
residential tenancies act (there is a separate commercial one)
• Common exceptions (s. 5 RTA- where the act doesn’t apply):
o Hotel, motel, cottage, bed and breakfast, hospital / long term care
o Non-profit co-op housing
o Penal or correctional facilities
o Emergency shelter
o Units that require occupant to share a bathroom or kitchen facility with the owner
or owner’s spouse, child or parent (or spouse’s child or parent)
▪ Describing the typical boarder situation – where someone is living in someone else’s home
▪ You are renting a room from the home owner who lives in the house
▪ Here the act doesn’t apply
o Residence in a university
RTA: Application
• Landlord and Tenant Board hears disputes and makes orders (administrative board)
o You don’t go to court to resolve disputes you go here
• $ amount must be under $25,000 (s. 207 RTA)
• Dispute must be heard in a court if dispute is over $25,000
• If the RTA does NOT apply, there are still protections under the common law (Judge-made law)
and/or other statutes
o Advantage of RTA – its all contained in one act (including regulations etc.)
Basic procedure
• Landlords and tenants should speak to each other to resolve dispute
o If you can’t resolve the problem then you go to the board
• Tenants process:
o Tenant files Application with supporting docs. Filed with Lanloard tenant Board
o Board gives Notice of Hearing (another document)
o Tenant serves Application and Notice of Hearing on Landlord (tells them why you are applying
to the board)
o Possible Mediation, before the hearing the board will urge you to mediate (the board
has mediators that you can use)
o Hearing where a board member hears the dispute
• Landlords
o Notice of Termination served on Tenant (time to correct issue)
▪ If you pay your rent before the eviction date that the notice becomes useless (the
,landlord can’t take you to the board)
, o If no correction - Application with supporting docs.
o Filed with Board – Board gives Notice of Hearing
o Landlord serves Application and Notice of Hearing on Tenant
o Possible Mediation
o Hearing
Starting a Tenancy
A) The Application Process
• Tenancy Agreements / Leases can be written or oral (always best to have written agreement so terms
are clear)
o They don’t have to be in writing but its more effective if they are
• Terms (length of tenancy)
o Tenancy begins when tenant is entitled to occupy unit (s. 13(1) RTA) – not when you move
in
o Agreement takes effect even if unit is NOT occupied (s. 13(2) RTA)
▪ E.g. if you get the apt in may but don’t move in until Sept and they do repairs during the
time. You go up during the weekend and realize that you can’t use it because of that…
did they give you notice they were coming in, did they compensate you for the time you
can’t use it etc.
• Guarantors and co-signors
o Someone who is promising or agreeing to pay for any loses that the landlord may suffer as a result
of your tenancy
• The RTA is paramount of supreme with regards to signed leases
o Therefore if there is any part of your lease that conflicts with the RTA the RTA overrides it
• Practices in Selecting Tenants (s. 10 RTA and Human Rights Code - O. Reg. ):
S.1: (1) Landlord may request credit references, credit check and rental history
(2) Income information may only be requested with (1 – the above info)
S.2: Landlord can ask for a “guarantor”
S.4: Landlord can NOT refuse tenant based on enumerated grounds (race, ancestry, place of origin, colour,
ethnic origin, citizenship, sex, sexual orientation, age, marital status, family status, handicap or the receipt of
social assistance)
B) The Acceptance process
• Method of acceptance of agreement can be oral or written but there must be a “consensus ad idem”
• “Consensus ad idem”
o An agreement of parties to the same thing; a meeting of the minds (Black’s Law Dictionary)
• Requirements for written tenancy agreements (s.12 RTA)
o Must set out legal name and address of the landlord in the agreement itself (s. 12(1) RTA) –
you need to know who to contact if you have a legal problem
• If the agreement is in writing:
o Landlord must give a copy of the signed agreement to the tenant within 21 days of signing
(s. 12(2) RTA)
• If the agreement is NOT in writing:
o Landlord must give tenant written notice of legal name and address within 21 days after
the tenancy begins (s. 12(3) RTA)
• If the landlord fails to comply:
o The tenant’s obligation to pay rent is suspended
o Landlord cannot require tenant to pay rent (s. 12(4) RTA)
• After the landlord complies:
o Landlord can require tenant to pay any rent withheld due to landlord’s failure to provide
the agreement or legal name and address (s. 12(5) RTA)
, • “Void”
o Something is viewed as if it does not exist and never existed
• Acceleration clause “void” (they never existed)
o Provision in agreement that make the tenant pay extra (often full amount of rent owing
under remainder of lease) for:
▪ Defaulting on paying rent
▪ Not carrying out some obligation
o S. 15 of the RTA makes this type of clause in agreement “void”
• No pet provisions void
o Provision prohibiting the presence of pets in the rental unit are made void by the act under
s. 14 of the RTA
• Provision conflicting with Act “Void”
o Any provision in tenancy agreement or lease inconsistent with the RTA is void under s. 4 RTA
• Mediated Settlements = Exception
o Board may attempt to mediate settlement of any matter that is the subject of an Application
o Only if parties agree to mediation (s. 194 RTA)
• Settlement may override RTA
o Mediated settlement may override parts of the RTA (s. 193(3) RTA)
o Exception: Limit on the amount that settlement can increase rent
• Security of Tenure
o Tenancy may be terminated only in accordance with the RTA (s. 37(1) RTA)
o Tenancy can only be terminated by:
▪ An order of the Board
▪ Agreement between tenant and landlord
▪ Through proper legal notice (not necessary if agreement between tenant and landlord
to terminate)
C) Valid Tenancy Agreement
• Security deposits
o Money, property, or a right to do something
o Paid by a tenant and held by the landlord as security
o Usually to ensure the tenant lives up to certain obligations (rent, no damage, etc…)
o The only security deposit landlord can collect is a rent deposit
• (ss. 105(1) RTA)
• Rent deposit
o A landlord can require a tenant to pay a rent deposit
o May only do so on or before the day the tenant enters into the tenancy agreement – not
after entering agreement (s. 106(1) RTA)
• Maximum amount
o Amount of deposit cannot be more than rent for one rent period (whether weekly or monthly)
(s. 106(2) RTA)
• Post-dated cheques
o Landlord cannot require a tenant to provide post-dated cheques or automatic payment (s. 108
RTA)
• Additional charges prohibited (s. 134 RTA)
• Landlord may NOT:
o Collect a fee, premium, commission, penalty, key deposit or other money (refundable or not)
o Make the tenant purchase goods or services as a rental condition
