Question Re: breaking a lease in Ontario

[klewlis]

A friend of mine rents a basement suite in Ontario. Her lease is a home-made word document and does not specify any conditions for breaking the lease. She wants to break it but is worried about her obligations, even though no conditions are written into the lease.

Does anyone have input on this?

(I can try to find out more details if you need them.)

 

[jackie]

QUOTE (klewlis @ Jan 15 2009, 12:21 PM) A friend of mine rents a basement suite in Ontario. Her lease is a home-made word document and does not specify any conditions for breaking the lease. She wants to break it but is worried about her obligations, even though no conditions are written into the lease.

Does anyone have input on this?

(I can try to find out more details if you need them.)

There are too many unknown variables to give you an accurate answer. Direct your friend to the Landlord Self Help Centre, a not-for-profit legal clinic serving Ontario`s small-scale landlords. She can explain her situation to them and they`ll interpret the laws for her.
Contact info:
Toronto local: 416-504-5190
Toll free: 1-800-730-3218
www.landlordselfhelp.com

Of course, if it turns out she doesn`t have an option to legally force her tenant to move, she is allowed to try to negotiate with them to end the tenancy (perhaps an offer of $$ to move out by X date, making sure they sign the appropriate `agreement to terminate tenancy` form).

Information and forms are available from the Landlord Tenant Board directly at www.ltb.gov.on.ca

Good luck to your friend!
Jackie

 

[klewlis]

sorry for the confusion--my friend is the tenant, not the landlord.

 

[jackie]

QUOTE (klewlis @ Jan 15 2009, 01:07 PM) sorry for the confusion--my friend is the tenant, not the landlord.

If your friend`s lease is a one-year lease which has not expired yet, there`s not much she can do to cancel it without still being responsible for the rent for the remainder of the lease.

She could try to negotiate with the landlord to end it early, perhaps offering to pay the advertising costs of finding a new tenant and being flexible on move-out date and notice for showings.

Still send her to the LTB site for information on her rights and responsibilities as a tenant. She can also phone the LTB for their opinion directly.

www.ltb.gov.on.ca

 

[invst4profit]

Since most of us on here are landlords this may not be the best place to get info on trying to "break" a lease if you catch my drift.

 

[klewlis]

QUOTE (invst4profit @ Jan 15 2009, 11:44 AM) Since most of us on here are landlords this may not be the best place to get info on trying to "break" a lease if you catch my drift.

Trust me, she has VERY good reason to want to break it... the landlord... should not be a landlord. I won`t go into detail.

I thought some of you might know more about the legalities of it. She has checked with the landlord tenant board but is still unclear as to what the penalties would be if she gives notice early.

 

[invst4profit]

Generally she will be liable for the rent up until the landlord finds a new tenant assuming the landlord makes a honest effort to locate a new tenant (newspaper add).

That should be the least of her worries.
If your friend should leave early she will not be able to give her present landlord as a reference and should future landlords find she broke her lease it will impact on her ability to find accommodations.
If she has to avoid stating who her previous landlord was on a rental application this will not bode well for her.
Keep in mind every tenant ever evicted always blames it on the landlord. Breaking a lease is no better than being evicted in the eyes of prospective landlords.

Her best option is to stick it out and try to make the best of a bad situation.
Sorry no help here.

 

[EdRenkema]

QUOTE (invst4profit @ Jan 15 2009, 03:36 PM) Her best option is to stick it out and try to make the best of a bad situation.Sorry no help here.


There is absolutely no reason for a tenant to `stick it out` if placed in an uncompromising, unsafe, or possibly unethical situation.

The tenant must document all conditions that are potentially dangerous, unfair, or simply incompetence on the part of the landlord. I see no reason to turn a blind eye to incompetent landlords simply because we are landlords. In fact we as landlords should be exposing incompetence on the part of other landlords to rid our industry of them.

That said I do not know the extent of the possible `injustices` done by the landlord in question.
There was recently a case in Hamilton of a landlord who had the utilities shut off for a disabled tenant during a severe cold snap. That is not the type of individual who I want to identify with,
lease or no lease.

 

[jackie]

QUOTE (klewlis @ Jan 15 2009, 01:48 PM) She has checked with the landlord tenant board but is still unclear as to what the penalties would be if she gives notice early.

As annoying as our regulations are here in Ontario, they are most definitely thorough. I doubt there is any landlord-tenant situation that isn`t regulated in some way. If your friend is unclear after checking out the LTB website, tell her to phone and talk to a human. I`ve done it myself. If she explains her situation to them clearly and completely, they will tell her how the act applies.

 

[klewlis]

QUOTE (jackie @ Jan 15 2009, 05:53 PM) As annoying as our regulations are here in Ontario, they are most definitely thorough. I doubt there is any landlord-tenant situation that isn`t regulated in some way. If your friend is unclear after checking out the LTB website, tell her to phone and talk to a human. I`ve done it myself. If she explains her situation to them clearly and completely, they will tell her how the act applies.

Thanks, I will let her know to try them again.

She is also considering subletting it until her lease is up, so that may end up being her best option (though still not ideal since the landlord problems will still be there for the new tenant!).

 

[billf]

Hi,

If there is no specific length of contract a tenant only has to give 60 days notice to a landlord. I have had a few tenants break the lease on me, and it is a pain but I am forced to fill the vacancy ASAP to minimize my loses and to prove my diligence. I usually make the tenant pay for advertising and a half months rent break fee. Two tenants have skipped out on me without compensation, and I plan on taking them `to small claims if I ever find out where they have gone to.

That being said, if your friend has a complaint about the landlord the Ontario LTB is very accomodating to tenant requests.

Bill F

 

[invst4profit]

That said I do not know the extent of the possible `injustices` done by the landlord in question.There was recently a case in Hamilton of a landlord who had the utilities shut off for a disabled tenant during a severe cold snap. That is not the type of individual who I want to identify with,
lease or no lease.



Exactly. If it were that bad the tenant would simply leave. Without further details on what the real issue in this case is, which I doubt we will ever know, I maintain she should stick it out.
Most likely it is not a life threatening issue rather a personal relationship/rules issue.

 

[sunkat]

QUOTE (klewlis @ Jan 15 2009, 12:21 PM) A friend of mine rents a basement suite in Ontario. Her lease is a home-made word document and does not specify any conditions for breaking the lease. She wants to break it but is worried about her obligations, even though no conditions are written into the lease.

Does anyone have input on this?

(I can try to find out more details if you need them.)

Good morning,

If you call Landlord and Tenant Board 416-645-8080 you can speak with a live person.

Also I was in a similar position, and it all depends who your landlord is. You can just tell the landlord a good reason why you have to leave ex.job relocation etc. (make sure you inform him/her you have no choice) and sometimes they will just let you out for a small fee. I paid $100 for his trouble and for advertising, get something in writing you are clear.

The other way is you have a right to sublet and most times a landlord does not like this because you could get some loser in that causes problems so they will just let you out of the lease if you suggest this option.

Hope this helps.

Mark

 

[housedoc]

If there are no specified conditions for breaking the "lease", is the tenancy not therefore simply month-to-month?
Can the tenant then simply give 30 days (last months rent) and walk?
Is the basement unit even legal?

 

[klewlis]

As far as I know, the suite is legal.

Thanks for all the responses... my friend is weighing her options and hopefully will decide on something that will work for both her and the landlord.

 

[billf]

QUOTE (housedoc @ Jan 20 2009, 03:21 PM) If there are no specified conditions for breaking the "lease", is the tenancy not therefore simply month-to-month?
Can the tenant then simply give 30 days (last months rent) and walk?
Is the basement unit even legal?


Even month to month lease requires a 60 day notice by the tenant in Ontario.

Bill F

 

[selewis]

QUOTE (billf @ Jan 20 2009, 07:53 PM) Even month to month lease requires a 60 day notice by the tenant in Ontario.

Bill F


i hate to say it... but i have yet to have a tribunal hearing where the judge enforces full payment of a lease to the end of its life. tenant leaves in month 6 of a 12 month lease, the tribunal will not enforce 6 more months of payment. they just won`t do it. i`ve seen it tried more than once. maybe your city`s judges are different. landlord must try to rent unit (would do that anyway, of course). judges will always enforce 60-day notice, but never fulfillment of a lease. not in my experience yet anyway.

it seems rather strange, because the banks use lease documents in the mortgage approval process as some level of proof of the money that is coming in on a given property. but if these leases cannot be enforced anyway... hmmm...

if anyone has any insight on the enforcement of broken leases...??