water bills
- Thread starter smmcguire
- Start date
- Joined
- Aug 29, 2007
- Messages
- 2,042
As a landlord in Ontario you are free to decide if you want to include water in the rent or have the tenant put it in their name.
It is best in Ontario to have the tenant put all utilities in their own name as tenants are generally very wasteful of anything they do not pay for. Make sure you state in the lease that utilities are extra and confirm with the utility companies that they have been contacted by the tenant prior to turning over the keys. It is not uncommon for tenants to lie about having utilities in there name only for the landlord to find out a month later that it was never done.
Also if this is your first tenant make sure you get both first and last as cash or certified check prior to handing over the keys. If you accept a check and it bounces once they move in they are no longer obligated to provide LMR.
It is best in Ontario to have the tenant put all utilities in their own name as tenants are generally very wasteful of anything they do not pay for. Make sure you state in the lease that utilities are extra and confirm with the utility companies that they have been contacted by the tenant prior to turning over the keys. It is not uncommon for tenants to lie about having utilities in there name only for the landlord to find out a month later that it was never done.
Also if this is your first tenant make sure you get both first and last as cash or certified check prior to handing over the keys. If you accept a check and it bounces once they move in they are no longer obligated to provide LMR.
- Joined
- Jan 7, 2008
- Messages
- 127
Thanks, I'm taking over a tenant on a property I bought. They seem to be reliable, however the previous owners did not stipulate water expense to tenants in the lease. It was listed as rent plus"utililities" . So they are paying the water but the owners had left the bill in their name not the tenants.