Residential Lease Agreement
Residential lease agreements refer to written contracts between the tenants and landlord in which the property rights are transferred for a limited time duration. In Ontario, tenant and landlord responsibilities and rights are governed under the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 (RTA). In Ontario, the Standard lease applies to the majority of the residential tenancies including apartment buildings, single and semi-detached houses, secondary units (includes basement apartments) and condominiums.
Matters to be taken care of:
∎ Renters have the right to ask their landlord to provide a lease in the standard lease format.
∎ The renter has the right to withhold one month’s rent if the landlord does not provide the standard lease in the 21-day time period.
∎ The renter does not need to pay the rent if they fail to receive the standard lease even within 30 days after the rent withholding started.
∎ Rent can be withheld only for one month, and after that, the renter should pay the rent for the lease term even if they don’t get the standard lease copy.
∎ In the circumstance, where the standard lease has been provided, but terms and conditions are not mutually agreeable, the renter can give a 60 days’ notice to the landlord for premature ending of the tenancy. The notice must be issued within 30 days of receiving the standard lease from the landlord.