Your first stop for self-help is a review of our FAQs. Take a look at the ever increasing collection of questions asked by Ontario’s small-scale landlords as well as the actual answers provided by Landlord’s Self-Help Centre.
The issue is not about permission, as a tenant does not require permission from their landlord to have friends, family members, or roommates, the issue is whether the number of occupants creates overcrowding or a safety problem. Municipal property standards, fire code rules, and health and safety requirements are what matter here. If the unit exceeds legal occupancy limits, you may have grounds to file an application with the Board. For example, Toronto Municipal Code, chapter 629, Property Standards allows for four square meters for each person in a room used for sleeping being used for two or more people. You should document your concerns and may need municipal inspection evidence. Overcrowding can support an N5 or other legal steps if it creates health, safety, or substantial interference issues.
Yes. You may still serve an N4 Notice for Non-Payment of Rent to the tenant, even if she is temporarily away. Service must follow the rules under the Residential Tenancies Act. You can serve the notice by approved methods, such as placing it in the mailbox, sliding it under the door, handing it to an adult in the unit, or sending it by regular mail. If serving by regular mail, remember to add 5 extra days for service. The roommate may receive the notice physically, but the notice is still considered served on the tenant, not the roommate.
In Ontario, a tenant has the right to have a roommate or occupant such as friends or family members as guests living in the rental unit without the landlord’s permission, as long as it does not create overcrowding, violate municipal property standards, or create safety concerns. The original tenant remains fully responsible for paying rent and complying with the lease agreement.
This type of situation does not fall under the Residential Tenancies Act because you are not considered a landlord. You are a head tenant and the person you are renting to is your roommate. You should obtain legal advice on this issue from a lawyer or paralegal. We can only provide legal advice to landlords and property owners that are covered by the RTA. Contact the Law Society Referral Service at www.findlegalhelp.ca or the Community Legal Education Ontario (CLEO) at www.cleo.on.ca for more information about evicting your roommate.
According to the Residential Tenancies Act, it is not unlawful for a tenant to take in a roommate to help pay for the rent. The landlord cannot stop a tenant from doing this. If you were to go through the eviction process at the Landlord and Tenant Board and obtain an eviction order against your tenant, everyone living in the rental unit would be evicted as well.
We cannot tell you if what they have done is contrary to building and property standards. You have to check with the municipality’s building and property standards department about this. If it is in contravention of any by-laws and/or they have caused damage to the rental property, you would then be within your rights to issue a N5 notice to have them correct the problem and follow eviction process accordingly.
It is up to you and your potential tenant to decide who will be filling out the rental application and who will sign the lease as a tenant. You do not have control over who comes in after the tenancy commences, as those people would be the tenant’s guests and therefore, the tenant’s problem. If the tenant named in the lease ends up not paying the whole rent or their guests/roommates cause problems like noise disturbances or damages, you would simply begin the eviction procedure against the tenant and try to prove your case at the Landlord and Tenant Board.