Some Important Issues Regarding Residential leases in Ontario

Having a lease has some significant advantages for landlords and tenants. Although a written lease was not necessary to establish a tenancy agreement, most landlords required new tenants to sign a lease; it can ensure that a tenant would be responsible for the duties and responsibilities mentioned in the tenancy lease. There is the main difference between tenants with the lease and tenants without it, and that is regarding when and how the tenancy agreement could end. For more information about residential leases in Ontario, consult Landlord and Tenant Paralegal.

Based on most lease agreements, a tenant can live in the rental unit for at least one year. Also, a tenant has to pay a set amount of rent on time each month and follow other rules mentioned in the written agreement. They may be about how s/he can use the premises. Depending on the terms of the standard lease and what the law allows, the lease required a tenant to follow some certain rights or obligations.

Most private residential tenancies need a standard lease for new agreements signed on or after April 30, 2018. It can create a contract between the landlord and tenant, which is also called a residential tenancy agreement. The government has designed it to help prevent disputes between landlords and tenants and reduce illegal terms. Also, the new standard lease can protect tenants from sudden and dramatic rent increases. The responsibilities of landlords and tenants will be clearer. The landlord has to provide the tenant with a copy of the standard agreement within 21 days after completing it.

The new lease can apply to apartment buildings, secondary units like basement apartments, rented condos, and single and semi-detached houses. Keep in mind that the new residential tenancy agreement cannot apply to mobile home parks, retirement and nursing homes, commercial properties, most social and supportive housing, land lease communities, and certain other special tenancies and co-operative housing.

What is the advantage of having a lease for a tenant?

If a tenant lives in a rented house, small apartment building, or part of a house owned by an individual, s/he will be at risk of being evicted by the landlord or the landlord’s family. If the landlord gives a tenant 60 days’ notice that s/he requires the premises, the tenant with no lease can be evicted. However, when the tenant has a standard lease, the landlord cannot do so before the lease has expired. When the lease gives the tenant an option to renew, the tenant cannot be evicted unless the Landlord and Tenant Board has issued the eviction notice.

A residential tenancy agreement is written in easy-to-understand language. It includes some important information, such as:

– Landlord and tenant’s names

– Information on a rental unit. Such as the address

– Contact information

-Terms of the tenancy agreement

– Services and utilities

– The amount of rent

-When rent must be paid

-Tenants insurance

-Maintenance and repairs

– Assignment and subletting rules.

– Signatures of the landlord and tenant