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.
Under the Residential Tenancies Act, the definition of “landlord” can include property managers, agents, or anyone acting on behalf of the owner in managing the tenancy. This means a property manager may complete notices, collect rent, communicate with tenants, and participate in Board proceedings on the landlord’s behalf. However, the property owner may remain legally responsible for many obligations under the tenancy. In determining who is a landlord, the Board will also look at who is named on the lease agreement.
Yes. A landlord can authorize another person, such as an adult child, property manager, or agent, to act on their behalf for landlord-tenant matters, including serving notices or communicating with tenants or even attending hearings. If the landlord is authorizing someone else to attend hearings on their behalf, it is recommended to provide the Board with a letter stating that person is authorized to do so.
If the property is fully owned by a corporation, the corporation is considered the landlord, not the individual owner behind the corporation. Under the Residential Tenancies Act, corporations cannot use an N12 for landlord’s own use because a corporation itself cannot personally occupy the unit. Depending on the situation, you may need to explore other options such as a mutual agreement to end the tenancy using an N11. This usually results in a “Cash for Keys” agreement.
Your situation is primarily a family law dispute, not just a landlord-tenant issue. Because you and your spouse are co-owners and co-landlords, you generally have equal legal authority over the property. This means that if one landlord serves notices and the other contradicts them, the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) may view the notices as unclear, inconsistent, or unreliable. Importantly, if a notice is found to be confusing or misleading to the tenant, it may be deemed void by the LTB. When tenants receive conflicting instructions such as one landlord telling them to leave and another telling them to stay it can undermine the validity of the notice altogether and result in dismissal of any related application.
To move forward, you will likely need a family court order that clarifies: Who has decision-making authority over the property, whether one party has exclusive possession, whether the property can be sold or occupied by one party. Until that issue is resolved, the LTB will not determine disputes between co-landlords.
If you proceed with an N12 (personal use), you can still file an L2 application, but you should expect the co-ownership conflict to be raised as a preliminary issue at the hearing. If there are multiple rental units, a separate L2 must be filed for each unit. Your best next step is to speak with a family law lawyer to seek an order that supports your intended use of the property. You can contact the Law Society Referral Service (www.findlegalhelp.ca) for a free 30-minute consultation. In the meantime, your tenants are effectively caught between conflicting instructions from two landlords, which often results in delays and limits your ability to enforce the notices.
As you might imagine, a situation such as yours is complex and difficult to separate into its component parts. There are no legislative guidelines to help determine the rights of what can loosely be called “landlord-landlord disputes.” These matters tend to be determined in the courts, and presumably the family court involvement may end up determining what rights each of you have in the context of property ownership, and in the landlord and tenant relationship. We only give advice to the small-scale landlord community. However, my own assumption in this matter is that if the tenant was to get legal advice on the issue, he would be told to deal with your ex-spouse exclusively, and to consider you to be a neighbouring tenant, rather than a landlord. This stems from the fact that your ex-spouse is the sole person who actually showed and rented the unit to the downstairs occupant, (presumably) charged him, and continues to charge him rent.
Section 2(1) of the RTA defines landlord as the following:
“landlord” includes,
(a) the owner of a rental unit or any other person who permits occupancy of a rental unit, other than a tenant who occupies a rental unit in a residential complex and who permits another person to also occupy the unit or any part of the unit,
(b) the heirs, assigns, personal representatives and successors in title of a person referred to in clause (a), and
(c) a person, other than a tenant occupying a rental unit in a residential complex, who is entitled to possession of the residential complex and who attempts to enforce any of the rights of a landlord under a tenancy agreement or this Act, including the right to collect rent; (“locateur”)