We bought a fourplex house in Hamilton last November with tenants. The tenant on the basement is an older single man who rents one bedroom apartment by himself . On the other side of the basement is a separate room with a complete bathroom no door. The son of the existing tenant would like to rent this room (200.00) for a period of one year and share kitchen facilities with his father. The son is on Ontario Works assistance program to finish his education. How do I protect myself with due diligence in regards to Ontario Works paying the rent directly to me as his portion of the hydro bill? and how do I ensure his tenancy ends exactly after one year? how do I arrange this through his social worker and make it work? is the social worker easy to approach and discuss the situation? what documents are required to ensure everything falls into place? what are the pitfalls?
There are a number of reasons why it is a very bad idea to rent to welfare recipients in Ontario. To begin never believe anything their case workers tell you. They have zero respect for landlords.
In Ontario your tenants son can move in with his father without asking your permission and can stay for as long as he wishes rent free. If he offers to have welfare pay you directly do not fall for that ploy. The welfare recipient can stop direct payments to their landlord any time they chose.
You have no guarantees he will pay you rent and you have no way of collecting if he doesn't pay. If he does pay he could at any time stop paying and your only recourse would be to try to evict but as I said you tenant is allowed to have anyone they want move in with them. He could also start paying then take you to the board accusing you of charging illegal rent and will likely win.
If you do agree to rent to him in Ontario, unless he violates the RTA, at the end of his lease there is no way to get rid of him if he chooses to stay. You will have him as a tenant till he decides to leave.
Also welfare recipients in Ontario have been declared by the government to be untouchable. They can incur any debts they chose and walk away free and clear. There welfare income may not be garnished and non of them care about there credit records.
Bottom line is I would recommend you not rent to him and hope that he does not move in with his father anyway. Chances are he will drop out of school and take up permanent residency with dad.
Sounds like a great opportunity to increase income! Is the father a good tenant? ask the father what he thinks about it get a feel how happy he is with the idea..also meet the son and his dad TOGETHER.. see if they get along well..
If son has a credit history definitely pull his credit report. If meets your crieterias - feedback from previous landlord, etc., then sure I would definitely rent it to him.
Maybe best if you can add him to dad's lease. ask dad if he is OK with his son paying him $200 and adjust dad's new rent to current rent+$200! rent increase is limited in ON but sounds like a legit enough move in this unique case as unit 'changing/expanding' as well.
Thank you for your feedback. We have decided not to go ahead regardless of his father's good standing as a tenant, as you pointed out the risk is too great. We had many inconsistencies when we met with his son.
