[00:00:00] Kevin Breitner: Hey, Ontario landlords. Welcome to another episode of CRESI’s Landlord Podcast Series. We’re here to make sure that you’re always getting correct information, whatever it is that it may be, something to do with the landlord. Whether it’s residential, commercial, single family, multifamily, uh, we’re here to, again, make sure that you’re always understanding your options, your, uh, rights, [00:00:30] your obligations, everything to make sure that we’re doing what we need to do and we’re being great housing providers.

Uh, today we’re going to talk about something that definitely doesn’t happen very often, but does happen. And how do you deal with it? What do you do? What’s the situation? And to talk about that, we’re bringing in. Uh, friend, colleague of mine, Gibrian, who is a general practicing lawyer, uh, out in Mississauga.

He is a landlord and tenant, uh, specialist with real estate involved. He’s also an investor. Uh, they do commercial contracts, uh, estate [00:01:00] administration and litigation. And their firm has seven lawyers that cover a whole bunch more. They’re a great one stop shop for you if you need anything, uh, lawyer, real estate related especially.

Uh, he’s appeared in all levels of the Ontario court, including divisional court, appeals of landlord and tenant board orders. Um, he is married, he has two children, he plays hockey, soccer, and hopefully he’s a Leaf fan, yep. He definitely is. I know by looking at him, he’s a landlord himself, as I mentioned, you know, multiple properties in [00:01:30] Ontario and in the U.

S. So he’s here to help guide us and talk about Ontario today, obviously, and remember all of our conversations, they are generally speaking about general situations every step of the way. Specific situation is as individual as our fingerprints. Um, so without further ado, let me, uh, bring out Mr. Gibrian and, uh, he’s going to talk to us today about what happens in your rental if the tenant passes away.

Uh, Gibrian, how are you doing today, my friend? [00:02:00]

[00:02:00] Gibrian Malicki-Sanchez: Awesome. Thanks so much for having me on Kevin. I’m happy to be here. Um, it’s a very interesting topic. Uh, it’s not top of mind for landlords when they are renting to a tenant and hopefully it never happens, but if the situation does come up, it’s important to know what a landlord should be doing to protect themselves.

I’ve

[00:02:17] Kevin Breitner: heard of, uh, situations where a tenant had been passed away for multiple days inside his unit because Um, not a big circle of family or friends around him and people didn’t even know. So it’s, uh, again, something that’s not [00:02:30] often or common, but it does happen. So let’s just start with this. Let’s say, uh, I’m a landlord.

I have a property, a little condo that I rent out to Susan and, uh, Susan passes away as a landlord, what do I have to do? Need to do what happens? What’s the process?

[00:02:47] Gibrian Malicki-Sanchez: Right. So in that unfortunate situation, um, this is governed by section 91 of the residential tenancies act. And what that says is that the tenancy is automatically [00:03:00] terminated after 30 days.

So, the landlord has certain responsibilities that they must fulfill within that 30 day period. Once they discover that the tenant has passed away, the landlord is going to want to make sure that they contact, um, well, first of all, the police, if they’re the ones who discover the body, so that the police can contact, uh, the next of kin of the deceased.

For If, uh, somebody else reaches out to the landlord and lets them know that their [00:03:30] family member has passed away, then the landlord should secure the property, because they’re responsible for everything that’s in the property. And the most important thing first is what to do with the body, and it must be treated with respect.

So, the next of kin will be responsible for, uh, disposing of the body and making the appropriate arrangements for that. Um, if there is no next of kin that’s located, then the police will, will deal with the body. Okay? Um, [00:04:00] Now, the landlord, uh, is responsible for, um, making sure that the owner’s property, uh, the tenants property, uh, remains safe and secure.

So, uh, there’s an exception where they, they have to dispose of, um, anything that’s unsafe or unhygienic immediately. Otherwise, uh, they must provide reasonable access to whoever is responsible for administering the [00:04:30] estate to deal with that property, to remove it. And They need to ensure that the person who’s coming into the rental unit, um, is, you know, has the appropriate authority.

So, uh, they can prove that in a couple of ways. One, if, um, there’s a will that says that they’re the executive, then they have the appropriate authority. If, um, there is no will, then you’re going to want to make sure that [00:05:00] they, you know, you need to know what their relationship is. Okay. Um, so you’re going to want to verify their ID and, um, you’re going to want to, um, make sure that within the, uh, the 30 day period, uh, any property that will have to go to the estate, um, has been accounted for.

So you’re going to [00:05:30] want to go in there and have a first look to make sure that you take an itemized list and photographs of, uh, the tenant’s property. Um, Because ultimately you’re responsible. So after the 30 day period, the landlord can retain any of the tenants property that’s left behind and not taken by their next of kin or the estate administrator, they could sell the property as well.

But if they [00:06:00] misappropriate any of the property within, um, a six months period from the tenant’s death, then the estate can actually claim that property against the landlord and the landlord will have to reimburse. The estate, um, for the value of that property, anything above their own out of pocket expenses for, you know, selling the property or, or storing it.

[00:06:23] Kevin Breitner: So let’s, sorry, uh, you mentioned two different timelines there. You said something about six months and you also said [00:06:30] responsible for the property for 30 days. Um, so let’s say we’re 45 days in, we now get rid of something. When you’re talking about misappropriating their stuff, that obviously would have to happen in that first 30 days, I would assume.

[00:06:44] Gibrian Malicki-Sanchez: Uh, yeah, so the, the estate has that first 30 day period to take care of that stuff. So, and again, this is all governed by, um, section 91 and section 92. So, section 92 of the Residential Tenancies Act says that, [00:07:00] um, after the 30 day period, the landlord is not liable for any of the property that they disposed of.

So, the estate cannot go after the landlord. If they did not retrieve the property within that first 30 day period

[00:07:14] Kevin Breitner: Now let’s take this one step further. That was nice and simple, right? We had one tenant and they passed away in that unit. What if we had a lease agreement with susan? She passes away, but her son Frank lives in the property as well, but he is not on the lease.

What happens there? Uh, [00:07:30] what’s that situation? How do we deal with that?

[00:07:33] Gibrian Malicki-Sanchez: Well, the first thing is you have some good news. You have a next of kin. Okay, so, uh, they can make the arrangements, um, for the deceased. And obviously you want to extend your condolences and treat the matter with utmost respect. You’re going to want to advise the tenant or the tenant’s son of their rights.

Um, and the responsibility to retrieve the property and if they don’t comply with that 30 day period, then the landlord [00:08:00] can dispose of the property as, as mentioned. Um, it’s unfortunately that son will have to leave the property because they’re not a lawful tenant. Um, there’s no right of inheritance. Um, in fact, the only people who can continue a lease if they’re not on it is the spouse.

of the deceased tenant, and a spouse is defined in the Residential Tenancies [00:08:30] Act as a person who’s married to the tenant, or a person who is residing with the tenant in a conjugal relationship outside of marriage. Okay? And that, um, means that they’ve lived with that person for at least one year, or, um, they have a child together, or they’ve entered into a cohabitation agreement under the Family Law Act.

So, if you are, [00:09:00] um, a parent, um, and you’re living with your children, And especially if they’re adult children and you want to make sure that they will not be evicted or they won’t actually be evicted, they’ll have to move out. It’s not an eviction process because the tenancy is deemed to be terminated after the 30 day period.

But if you want to protect their, their rights to reside in the property, then the only thing you can do.

[00:09:28] Kevin Breitner: We always tell our [00:09:30] landlords to make sure anybody over the age of 18 is on that lease agreement as well, just so we know how many bodies, let’s say the place were to burn down, right? We know how many people are in there or something like that, but also just for protection as well to always know who’s living in the property at all times.

Obviously, we can’t restrict who moves in once they’re there, but we always want to try to add them to the lease as a practice that we do. Um, so those are the two big ones I guess for tenant situations and death. Is there any other situation maybe that I’m missing here that we should cover for [00:10:00] somebody that goes on?

[00:10:02] Gibrian Malicki-Sanchez: Yeah, so some tenants do live with pets. You’re going to want to make sure that those pets are taken care of. Again, contacting next of kin, um, will be the most beneficial thing. Um, and hopefully the situation is identified as quickly after the, the tenant has passed away. Um, because in that situation that you said where somebody has passed away and they weren’t discovered three days later, they had a pet in that.

That’d be another very unfortunate [00:10:30] situation, but again, if there’s no next of kin that can be contacted in a timely fashion, um, that landlord should contact the Humane Society to make sure that they’ll take care of the pet, uh, for safekeeping.

[00:10:42] Kevin Breitner: As a landlord, does, uh, does that mean then that I’m responsible for their pet if they passed?

Uh, because you said I would be responsible for all the property and belongings inside, so I would have to, I guess, make sure the cat or dog is looked after until we figure out what’s going on with all the property? [00:11:00]

[00:11:00] Gibrian Malicki-Sanchez: Yep, you have to keep everything in safekeeping, so it’s not a problem to turn the pet over to the local Humane Society until, um, you know, someone with the proper authority to administer the estate is able to take care of the

[00:11:14] Kevin Breitner: pet.

Excellent. That, uh, that’s something I wouldn’t have thought of was a pet, for sure.

[00:11:22] Gibrian Malicki-Sanchez: And, um, another thing just, uh, to consider when, when a tenant dies, um, you can take [00:11:30] control over the property. You can change the locks again. This is important so that there’s no one that you do not want in the property messing around and getting in there. Cause again, you’re ultimately responsible. And if a lot of properties removed, you can be.

How liable as a landlord. So, um, keep that in mind, you know, bring a locksmith if you can, um, just to secure the premises

[00:11:57] Kevin Breitner: at the end of every tendency, we should be changing over locks, making [00:12:00] sure that there’s no extra keys or anybody else that could be out there, right? I guess again in this situation, just to tie it back to what we’re talking about today.

Uh, tenant, Susan, who has kids that don’t live with her, she has, let’s say, two kids. They both had keys to the apartment. While that 30 days is going on, one of the kids comes in and takes something that they believe belongs to them, where the other kid doesn’t agree. Uh, we would then be liable, correct?

[00:12:26] Gibrian Malicki-Sanchez: Yeah, yeah. That could be a multi [00:12:30] pronged, uh, suit over there. Because they’re going to be dealing with estate assets. But ultimately, uh, Yeah, the landlord is responsible for safekeeping those assets until, um, you know, the appropriate person is able to take possession of them.

[00:12:46] Kevin Breitner: It’s, uh, it’s interesting how siblings, some siblings, I guess, can be when something like this happens.

Uh, I had to deal with something, this is years ago, there were three siblings, uh, two daughters and, uh, a son. And they were arguing over a cake [00:13:00] cutter, and they wouldn’t agree to list the house after their second parent had passed, the first one that died years before. But they weren’t going to agree to do anything, because they were all three equal, until they got this cake cutter, and the one sister was blaming the brother, and back and forth, and it was a big, huge mess.

over a wedding cake cutter from their, their parents wedding. That I was completely shocked that when your parent had passed away, that you were going down to such a nitty gritty thing. And that time was actually the same time when my father was diagnosed with cancer. So it really hit home to where people were arguing [00:13:30] like that when something was going to happen.

But, uh, no, that’s interesting that we were responsible for everything, including pets, uh, and especially with siblings. So change the locks right away. If something like that’s happening. For sure.

[00:13:42] Gibrian Malicki-Sanchez: Yeah. And you may want an added layer of protection. Um, if you don’t know which, um, sibling to hand the property over, you may want to have a lawyer draft an indemnity agreement where you release the property to an individual and you set [00:14:00] out the factual background as to why you’re doing it.

And that if there’s any claims for the value of the property, that person will indemnify you. For, for the cost of them taking it, okay, so you may want to do that and something else to consider one of the benefits of changing the lock and securing access, um, is that there’s no eviction process. I mentioned that the tendencies deemed to be terminated.

So if, [00:14:30] um, you know, a child or a sibling, somebody who’s not a spouse is trying to squat in that property after the fact, then by changing the locks, you’re able to control it. that the premises and that person is essentially trespassing, you know, if there are any issues, hopefully the police will assist you.

Uh, you can contact the police to attend at the property to observe again, hopefully they will assist you with that. So, um, just be aware that the landlord and tenant board is not necessarily going to step in to help [00:15:00] you remove that person. You’re going to have to deal with it as if, um, you know, you have possession of the property again, and somebody’s trespassing on it.

[00:15:09] Kevin Breitner: Excellent. I, uh, I think that was definitely jam packed with some information for everybody out there. Uh, I don’t know, unless we’re missing something that you can think of again, but, uh, if not, let’s, uh, let’s call it a wrap. Let’s think about what we’re going to do on another time and let everybody know that this is the situation that you’re going to have to deal with, sadly, if your tenant passes [00:15:30] away.

[00:15:32] Gibrian Malicki-Sanchez: Yep, and, uh, like you mentioned, everybody’s situation is different, so depending on the scenario and what you’re dealing with, uh, you may want to get legal advice. Just so that you’re protected, uh, because of the new responsibilities that arose and, um, yeah, it’s an interesting topic. So thanks so much for bringing me on to speak with you.

Thanks for

[00:15:50] Kevin Breitner: sharing your wisdom and expertise and experience. And guys, if you need to get a hold of Gibrian, his contact information would be on the screen at some point as well. But just in case you’re listening and you don’t get to [00:16:00] see it, you can always reach out to us. To make sure that you’re getting the right information, uh, realestate at cresci.

ca is the best email to get whatever information you’re after As always thanks so much for listening. I hope this uh, got you some informed information that you need to know if you’re a landlord, just in case the situation ever arises. Thanks so much. Talk to you soon. Bye for now.

[00:16:20] Narrator: Please remember while we are professionals, this podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only.

The advice shared may not apply to your unique situation. [00:16:30] Always seek personalized advice from a qualified professional before making any investment decisions.

[00:16:35] Kevin Breitner: Hey everybody, thanks so much for joining us this week. I hope you enjoyed the episode. If you’re finding it informative and useful, make sure to like, subscribe, uh, share with a friend so that we can keep getting the information out there to Ontario landlords and, uh, keep on joining us.

We’ll see you next time.

Kevin Breitner: All right, hey there Ontario landlords, welcome to another episode, uh, for you, right? Uh, today we’re going to have some fun. We’re not going to. Dive into any specific topic, but we are going to talk about some scenarios Some interesting situations some probably not so common things, but something that’s often who would know what to do Like if a tenant were to pass away or if [00:00:30] they’re denying you entry Or a couple things we’re going to talk about as to what can happen or what should go on And what your obligations are rights as the landlord in these situations Uh, so to, to join me in this conversation today, uh, my friend, the smart one, and all this, uh, Mr.

Robert Di Lisi from Stonegate Legal Services. How are you doing today?

[00:00:52] Rob Di Lisi: Good, Kevin. Thanks for having me on the podcast again. I look forward to helping

[00:00:56] Kevin Breitner: you guys out. Yeah, no, uh, I enjoy your insight, your [00:01:00] expertise, uh, and experience. And, uh, I think this is going to be a lot of fun to hear. Uh, what we have to do here are some of these, um, interesting things that some landlords have to deal with or, or navigate through these waters.

So, um, if, uh, if you want to get started, I’ll start with the first scenario. Sure. All right. So here we go. So let’s say a tenant hasn’t been there in months or so it seems to the landlord. Uh, they haven’t paid rent in those same months that, uh, they feel like they [00:01:30] haven’t been there. The landlord was told by somebody else that she believes that they’re in the hospital.

Okay. Cool. Uh, the landlord hasn’t heard from her in months, longer than what she hasn’t been paid rent either. They weren’t in constant communication. Um, she feels like she has abandoned the house, but wants to know, would an eviction be what she has to do? Or is there an easier way? All she wants to do is turn around and rent this house back out.

[00:01:57] Rob Di Lisi: Okay. So here’s the thing is that because [00:02:00] someone thinks that it’s abandonment doesn’t mean that it’s necessarily abandonment. So let me just go on like completely off the cliff. What if she’s in Europe right now, vacationing and she’s just not available. So just because you hear rumors that she’s in the hospital or wherever she is, it doesn’t mean that her tenancy is coming to an end.

It doesn’t mean that she’s abandoned. So if you have a non payment situation, that would probably be the best way to commence. Which is giving the N4, and then [00:02:30] waiting the 14 days, and then waiting to go to the board. From now until you get to the board, hopefully, you will be able to get a hold of someone, or the tenant, and maybe she is in the hospital, I don’t know.

And remember, that gives you about 4 to 6 months by the time you get to the board. So you can’t just claim abandonment. I hear this all the time, where they’re not there anymore. How do you know they’re not there? So something you can also do, is give a 24 hours notice. That would be a smart thing to do and go into the [00:03:00] property, take pictures, take video, but the only thing is, is that you kind of need their, their permission to do that.

The only reason why I’m saying you should do that is that if they have stuff there, obviously they have not left. So something else is happening. So you might need to investigate a little more, but in this situation, I would commence with the N4.

[00:03:18] Kevin Breitner: Okay. Um, is there a way to prove abandonment or is that simply something that is, like you said, over time, they’d have to wait to get all the way to, to the hearing and abort.

[00:03:28] Rob Di Lisi: So you can do [00:03:30] a hearing for abandonment, you can file with the board, but it’s the board that will make that determination based on what evidence you submit. That’s why pictures, video, testimony from other people, like what’s going on? Like, I don’t want to go too rash, but what if she passed away in the hospital and we don’t even know what’s going on?

All right, but you don’t want to arbitrarily make that decision and then find out that nothing was wrong with her and you threw out all her stuff.

[00:03:59] Kevin Breitner: So, uh, [00:04:00] you know what, uh, a tenant passing away is another scenario that, uh, that I’ve got here for us. So why don’t we jump right into that one? Um, and there’s two different ways that this could happen.

Let’s just talk about first a tenant passing away in the property. Uh, you don’t find out until days or whatever later, a single person, right? Uh, that doesn’t have much family or friends have passed away now. So I’ve heard of stories of sadly they’ve been there for a couple of days, uh, until they’re found and I figured out what’s going on.

What would happen [00:04:30] there? What is the dilemma?

[00:04:33] Rob Di Lisi: If it’s okay, I’m going to give a personal story because I actually, um, experienced this myself. So I had a tenant that I saw on the Friday. And he, you know, waved to me and he said, um, I don’t have much left to go. And, uh, thank you for being a great landlord.

And I don’t know what’s going to happen. And I was like, no, Carl, you’re going to be just fine. Well, over the weekend, the tenant beside [00:05:00] this tenant was complaining of a smell. She thought it was garbage. So on the Monday, when we went back to the building, I could hear music playing or the, sorry, the TV playing water running.

And I was knocking on the door and there was a lady outside coming crying, saying, you know, I think something happened to Carl. We need to go into the unit. When I opened the door, there was a [00:05:30] gust of smell. I don’t know if you’ve ever smelt a dead body, but it’s something you will never forget. And I found Carl on the, on the couch.

And then there’s a procedure that should be followed is that, um, do not touch the body. Obviously you should call the police. So what happened is the police came, fire department came, the, Uh, there was private investors that came because they want to make sure it wasn’t a murder and then the corner and the ambulance and the fire [00:06:00] department, everyone came, believe it or not.

So I believe there was like seven of them. It was the corner that made the final decision that said it wasn’t a murder or anything like that. So now the question is what happens? Well, the next of kin. Or family will be notified to let them know this person has passed away. There’s belongings here. They have 30 days to remove their belongings.

If they don’t, then the landlord can dispose of their [00:06:30] stuff at any time after the 30 days. So usually you have to let the next of kin or family. The problem is what if there is no next of family? Well, it’s still 30 days. After the 30 days, you can dispose of their belongings, but I would always say, try to find out a next of kin.

And that’s why my rental applications I’ll put in case of emergencies or someone else to contact.

[00:06:54] Kevin Breitner: What happens to their, um, their last month’s deposit or anything like that in that case, if someone was, [00:07:00] uh, from next of kin to then be requesting.

[00:07:04] Rob Di Lisi: Yeah, they can request it. They can request it. So it, remember last month’s rent can only be used for last month’s rent.

So if they paid, let’s say November 1st, cause today’s November 20th, and then they have a last month’s rent on file, then the nice thing to do is to give the money back.

[00:07:21] Kevin Breitner: Yeah. No, just, uh, interesting how that all, uh, would have played out, right? If they paid November rent and they passed away in the month of November, December, then would become their last month’s [00:07:30] rent, even though they’re technically not able to give 60 days notice.

That’s correct. It would just come that way and, uh, yeah, okay. Let’s, uh, let’s jump to one that, uh, sadly happens, uh, too often. A tenant refusing entry, um, to any unit, let’s say just in a condo. We’re looking there to do some maintenance. Um, We had, uh, here, here’s a, actually let’s do this. We had a tenant, uh, who was denying entry, uh, after [00:08:00] a storm and we needed to repair some of the inside of the units, um, where we had contractors show up and they didn’t let them in to do the work after it was agreed to and everything like that.

So how do we, uh, and then he was ended up. Um, calling the police. If anybody were to enter, obviously we didn’t enter without their permission, but, uh, yeah, let’s break down that type of scenario when somebody is.

[00:08:26] Rob Di Lisi: Yeah, this is very, very common. So please note [00:08:30] that notice must be given. I’m not talking about an email or a text message.

You’re supposed to post it to the door. Okay. Uh, now if you have a good relationship with the tenant and you do an email exchange or a text message exchange, that’s fine. If they’re refusing entry for maintenance purposes, the landlord should be documenting the day, the time. They should have it all documented because later on, if it becomes a [00:09:00] hearing, you need this evidence to show that you tried to mitigate your damages.

Now in regards to going in, I’m going to give you two scenarios and it depends on a few things is technically they are supposed to let you in, but if they don’t let you in, You can try to call the police and you request a peace officer to escort you into the property, depending on the police, depending on the department, they may or may not, [00:09:30] uh, obliged to your request.

Okay. Um, police, they’ll tell you this is beyond our jurisdiction. We’re here to keep the peace. This is beyond what we do. We do not want to get involved. So depending on what cop you talk to, um, you should always be talking to the desk sergeant of the precinct, not a police officer. The desk sergeant usually knows more than the average police.

Now that’s option. Number one, option. Number two. The landlord has the right [00:10:00] to file an N5 for not allowing entry. This also works for showings as well, if you’re trying to sell the property. The problem is, is that on an N5, it’s a behavioral application, and you’re still looking at about four to six months to get to the board, and then to get the order mailed is going to take, let’s say, another 30 to 60 days.

So this is going to be a long process and usually not always, there’s not always going to be an enforcement on [00:10:30] an eviction because it’s a behavioral application. It’s usually a slap on the wrist, which doesn’t do the landlord any good.

[00:10:38] Kevin Breitner: Okay. So let’s, uh, let’s talk about another one that’s, that’s very, very common here and that’s, uh, pets.

We have on our leases, it says no pets, but now we were told, uh, we noticed that, uh, our tenants have a little puppy or a little cat. How does that work? What can we do?

[00:10:57] Rob Di Lisi: So here’s the thing is, is that, um, [00:11:00] no pets is actually goes against the legislation, so you can put it in your contract. The question is, is that if they bring in a pet, um, what can you do?

Can you evict them? The answer is no. Okay. Uh, assuming that this is not a dangerous pet, so it’s not like a snake or like some kind of venomous, uh, Pet that it’s it’s a legal pet. I guess you can say, um, the only caveat to that would be Is that [00:11:30] let’s say for example, you’re renting a house and there’s a basement and you have allergies and you’ve told the tenant, look, the reason why I’m asking for no pets is because my child or myself have allergies towards dogs, cats, whatever the case is.

And I’m requesting that there’s no pets allowed, even though it goes against the legislation. This is something that would be able to be argued in a board. Because of if you have a medical [00:12:00] condition and that also goes with smoking by the way. So a lot of times, uh, if you’re sharing like a basement and the main floor and there’s an allergy to, uh, cigarettes or whatever the case is, as long as you can show that you can, you can fight that in the board.

Okay. Other than that, you can re you can ask if they have pets in the beginning, but if they bring pets in afterwards, the only time that It would be effective would be in a condo is if it goes beyond the weight limits of [00:12:30] the guidelines. So usually for a condominium, I believe it’s 25 pounds, if I’m not mistaken, which is like a small dog.

[00:12:37] Kevin Breitner: Every condo is different compared to their condo board. I’ve seen some that say no dogs. I’ve seen some that say they have a weight limit. Whether that’s 25 pounds, 50 pounds, uh, some say no more than one dog, um, or anything like that. So anyways, that is definitely specific per condo and their condominium board rules.

But like you said, if you were renting out a basement, would that only [00:13:00] matter if you were upstairs? What if you had a, a fourplex, for example, and one of your tenants was allergic to dogs and now someone got a dog? Uh, same thing with apply. I’m going to

[00:13:10] Rob Di Lisi: say, I’m going to say no, only because that tenant can change so you can try to fight it in the board.

But again, it does go against the legislation,

[00:13:19] Kevin Breitner: so it matters only if you are the landlord living upstairs with an allergy, not if you had a multifamily unit.

[00:13:26] Rob Di Lisi: Yeah, I would say so. Yes.

[00:13:29] Kevin Breitner: That’s interesting. [00:13:30]

[00:13:30] Rob Di Lisi: And also just the last thing in regards to the condominium, even if they say no pets allowed and someone brings in a dog because it’s a care dog, like support animal, someone being Yeah.

Like a support animal, then you’re now talking about human rights issues. Okay. So there could be exceptions. Sometimes,

[00:13:48] Kevin Breitner: uh, uh, in my mom’s condo, they have one dog allowed and it is a service dog, um, for that exact reason, but they don’t allow anybody else to have any dogs, any pets. And, uh, a maximum [00:14:00] of two cats per unit is what it says in their rules.

So they had definitely all break it all down. Um, so there, we talked about the no pets. What about, uh, adding a person to a lease, whether it be a roommate or a girlfriend or something like that, or, um, just bringing in more people when the lease was only made out to Frank. And now all of a sudden there’s Frank and Bill living there or Frank and Susan.

[00:14:21] Rob Di Lisi: So just to clarify you, cause you said, if I add someone to the lease, that’s a little different. So I think what you’re trying to say is that, let’s say, for example, I have two [00:14:30] people on a lease and it’s boyfriend and girlfriend. Okay. They are renting out a three bedroom house, argumentally speaking, and they’re living in the master bedroom, but their mother is coming from, I don’t know, Europe to live with them.

And now the father’s come and maybe a brother’s lived in the unit or the house. So there is nothing wrong with that. So remember when you rent out a property, you’re renting out the property, not the amount of occupants. So on a three bedroom house, I’m [00:15:00] just going to say that you could probably be allowed six to seven, maybe even eight people.

You would have to check this city bylaws in regards to how many people can occupy. Occupy the property. It’s usually by square footage. So the thing that a lot of landlords are concerned about is that there’s more than who’s on the lease. But that’s perfectly legal because these people are guests, occupants, or roommates.

Even if they want to pay rent, the main thing is that the [00:15:30] landlord should never be receiving rent from any occupant, roommate, or tenant. In the property, it should only be from the tenant, because if you collect money from anyone other than the tenant, and it shows that you’ve accept rent from anyone other than the tenant, they can become implied tenancy, which means they are now tenants.

The problem with that is if you ever have to do a notice and you don’t have their proper names, you have to remember these notices have to be 100 [00:16:00] percent accurate. So if it goes to the board and you don’t have all the tenants names on there correctly, the board may dismiss the application.

[00:16:09] Kevin Breitner: And that would just be all the tenants that are on the original lease.

[00:16:14] Rob Di Lisi: Correct. But if you start collecting money from anyone other than who’s on the lease, the argument will be is that this person has now accepted me as a tenant. And that would be argued at the board. So the easy way to do it is never collect money from anyone other than your tenant. [00:16:30]

[00:16:31] Kevin Breitner: So what about, um, same situation, but again, let’s go to multi family.

Um, they’ve added in more people, but They were having, uh, it’s a duplex up and down, not separately metered. Uh, so they are, uh, dividing and splitting up utilities on a percentage basis between upper and lower tenant. Um, but now one of the tenants has added in three more adults and is using more water and potentially more electricity.

Is there a way that that can be adjusted or changed, [00:17:00] um, to make it then fair again for both, uh, tenants?

[00:17:04] Rob Di Lisi: No. So again, the only thing you can do is in regards to bylaws. So if there’s one person and now there’s four people in a basement apartment. How many people are allowed to live there but in regards to the bills, unfortunately not

[00:17:17] Kevin Breitner: as it was written on the lease is How it stays correct.

[00:17:21] Rob Di Lisi: That’s

[00:17:21] Kevin Breitner: correct with uh a lot of things um, but then it’s Some things like pets like you said i’ve like I said

[00:17:28] Rob Di Lisi: Can I tell a quick horror story kevin? [00:17:30] No, let’s

[00:17:30] Kevin Breitner: uh, let’s end this So

[00:17:32] Rob Di Lisi: I I experienced this myself where we had a landlord That had a tenant that was one person living in the basement All utilities were included They got into an argument.

The tenant, what they did was invited their friends every night to do their laundry at this house. So they were using their water, electricity, the machine was being used more than [00:18:00] what it should have been because the guests were coming over and just using their machine, the water, because the electricity, the water was all included.

So just, just realize that I don’t like it when landlords put it in their own name. I prefer, now sometimes you don’t have a choice, but I prefer that you put it in the tenant’s name. Now depending on the municipalities, I just talked to someone yesterday, depending on the municipalities, even if you put it in the tenant’s name, if they skip out, they’ll put it [00:18:30] on your property taxes.

[00:18:31] Kevin Breitner: Water for sure.

[00:18:33] Rob Di Lisi: Water for sure. Yes. But this one was electricity, which boggled my mind. I didn’t understand that. So I don’t know if it was accurate, but she’s, she was telling me that there was a 7, 000 bill and they put it on the tax. Wow.

[00:18:46] Kevin Breitner: Well, you know, uh, people want to make sure they’re getting their money.

Right. And, uh, it always seems to fall back to the landlord no matter what’s going on. Um, which is one of these unfair things. Yeah. That goes on in this world how the scale seems to be balanced a little bit [00:19:00] more towards the tenant in this province of ontario Uh, but that is a topic for another day Uh, because there is ways hopefully in the future that we can figure out how to get these scales a little more balanced Uh and fix some of these things so that it is Again, fair for both sides and everybody involved, but again, that is a long conversation, something that we will dive into and we’ll get into another episode.

I hope, uh, you’ve found this informative, uh, in case you’re ever in a simple or similar [00:19:30] situation, sorry, to, uh, to what’s going on here. But if anything ever comes up and you’re not sure what to do, you can always reach out to myself. Uh, because I’m then going to in turn reach out to Mr. Rob Delicia and his team at Stonegate Legal Services.

Uh, you can connect with them as well. Um, they are online everywhere, socially, website. Um, and they can definitely, uh, help you with whatever you’re going through, landlord or tenant issues. Thanks so much for your time. As always, Rob, I appreciate it. And, uh, sounds good, Kevin. Thank you. Awesome. Thanks guys.

Bye for now. [00:20:00]

[00:20:01] Narrator: Please remember while we are professionals, this podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only. The advice shared may not apply to your unique situation. Always seek personalized advice from a qualified professional before making any investment decisions.

[00:20:16] Kevin Breitner: Hey everybody, thanks so much for joining us this week.

I hope you enjoyed the episode. If you’re finding it informative and useful, make sure to like, subscribe, uh, share with a friend so that we can keep getting the information out there to Ontario landlords [00:20:30] and, uh, keep on joining us. We’ll see you next time.