Am I obligated to renew the lease?

[yaru22]

Hello, new member of REIN and first time posting =)



I don't have an investment house yet but real estate investing is something I've wanted to do for a while so I'm trying to learn before purchasing an investment house.



I live in Toronto and read lots of horror stories (especially Ontario) from various landlord forums so it actually scares me a bit to be a real estate investor.



Anyway, my question is this: when the lease is over, am I obligated to renew the lease if the tenant wants to rent the house for longer? Or can I just tell them to look for another place? If that's the case, since typical house leasing period is 1 year, even if I get bad tenants, I can just put up with them until the leasing period is over?



Thanks,

Brian

 

[housingrental]

In Ontario, after lease end date, the tenancy continues on in perpetuity until either Landlord or Tenant provides written notice to end tenancy



Tenant needs to provide at minimum 60 days written notice to end tenancy



Landlord can only provide notice in limited circumstances (taking occupancy, change of us, major repairs needed (tenant can re-occupy)



Phrased another way the law takes the perspective that a rental provider is there for the renters benefit.

 

[alaas1977]

Hello



In Edmonton (Alberta), we are not required to renew a lease and we don't have to give notice that we aren't doing so. The lease here is considered Fixed Term. With that being said, even if I don't like the tenants, I still give them 1 months notice as a courtesy. I prefer leases for this reason, as then I have an easier way to get rid of tenants.



Perhaps Ontario is a lot stricter.



Lisa

 

[invst4profit]

Ontario is not so much stricter it is simply the fact that the regulations are in place primarily to protect tenants. The Ontario government is of the mind that rental properties exist for the benefit of the tenants not the landlords. As long as tenants pay the rent they owe, aside from the specific reasons as pointed out by Adam, landlords are obligated to maintain that tenancy and keep the tenant happy for as long as the tenant chooses.



If a tenant does not like the landlord or unit they may chose to leave but if the landlord does not like the tenant you are stuck with them. You only have control of your property when it is vacant.