Skip to main content

Explore the library

Narrow 189 published guides by topic, province, who you are and the kind of help you need. Every filter shows how many guides it leaves.

Pick a province

Shaded tiles have guides written for that province.

24 of 189 guides

Showing Ontario matching “landlord tenant act”, newest first.

Results

  • Screening & Applications
    ONArticle

    Tenant Reference Check Questions That Actually Work

    The reference call is screening's cheapest instrument and its most badly run: most landlords either skip it, ask questions that invite rehearsed answers, or drift into territory the Human Rights Code governs even on a phone call. Here's the call done properly — why previous landlords beat current ones, the twelve quest

    13 min read
  • Screening & Applications
    ONArticle

    How to Run a Tenant Credit Check in Ontario

    The tenant credit check is the most misunderstood step in Ontario screening — landlords fear it's complicated, applicants fear it hurts their score, and both fears are out of date. Here's the whole process: the written consent that must come first, where to actually run the check (and what each route costs), why rental

    13 min read
  • Screening & Applications
    ONArticle

    Can You Screen a Tenant Using LTB Orders? What the Human Rights Code Actually Allows

    LTB orders became public data on July 24, 2026, and the screening question became live the same day: can a landlord look up a prospective tenant's Board history — and act on it? The honest answer has two halves: no law forbids reading a public order, and the Human Rights Code governs every rental decision exactly as it

    14 min read
  • Rights & Legal
    ONArticle

    Ottawa's Renoviction Bylaw: What Landlords Must Do Before January 1, 2027

    Ottawa city council passed its Rental Renovation Licence bylaw 21–5 on July 15, 2026, and it takes effect January 1, 2027: a municipal licence within 7 days of issuing an N13, a building permit secured before the notice goes out, and a city-produced tenant rights guide served alongside it. Here's what the bylaw actuall

    15 min read
  • Rights & Legal
    ONArticle

    Managing a Toronto Rental While Living Elsewhere: The Remote Landlord's Guide

    Moving away doesn't change your obligations under the RTA — but crossing the tax-residency line changes who your tenant owes money to. A Tax Court case put six years of your tax bill on a tenant who had no idea. Here's what actually changes when you leave, and what to set up before you go.

    26 min read
  • Rights & Legal
    ONArticle

    Tenant Screening in Ontario: What the Human Rights Code Actually Lets You Ask

    Most Ontario landlords screen on income first — three times the rent, or a 30% cut-off. The Human Rights Commission says that rule is illegal, and the regulation makes income the one tool you can't use on its own. Credit and rental history can stand alone. Income can't. Here's what you may actually ask.

    24 min read
  • Rights & Legal
    ONArticle

    After the LTB Order: The Sheriff, the Wait, and Eviction Day

    An LTB eviction order is not possession — only the Sheriff can enforce it, and the Sheriff has a queue of their own. This guide covers the whole after-the-order world for landlords and tenants: the filing package and the six-month deadline, the fees and the regional wait, the Notice to Vacate, what actually happens on

    15 min read
  • Rights & Legal
    ONArticle

    The T6 Application: How Tenants Enforce Repairs at the LTB

    Your landlord's duty to repair is absolute — but it enforces itself exactly never. The T6 is the application that turns ignored repair requests into orders: rent abatements, deadlines, reimbursements, even a freeze on rent increases until the work is done. It costs $48, runs on a one-year clock, and lives or dies on da

    12 min read
  • Rights & Legal
    ONArticle

    Tenant Insurance in Ontario: What's Required and What's Smart

    Tenant insurance isn't required by Ontario law — but your lease can require liability coverage, and skipping it can put your tenancy at risk. Here's what landlords can and can't demand under the standard lease, what coverage actually protects you, and how to get insured for less than a dollar a day.

    14 min read
  • Rights & Legal
    ONArticle

    Property Standards Officers: How Ontario's Municipal Enforcement Actually Works

    When a landlord won't fix a serious problem, tenants have a route many don't know about: the municipal property standards officer. These bylaw inspectors can order repairs, set deadlines, and even bill the landlord for work the city does itself — and their orders are powerful evidence at the Landlord and Tenant Board.

    9 min read
  • Maintenance & Repairs
    ONArticle

    Pest Control in an Ontario Rental: Who's Responsible, and What to Document

    Bed bugs, cockroaches, mice — in Ontario, dealing with them is almost always the landlord's job, and paying for it is too. There's an actual regulation that says a rental must be kept "reasonably free of rodents, vermin and insects," a landlord can't pass the exterminator's bill to a tenant without proving the tenant c

    9 min read
  • Lease & Agreements
    ONArticle

    Tenant Insurance in Ontario: What a Landlord Can Actually Require

    Can your Ontario landlord make you get tenant insurance? There's no law that requires it — but a landlord can make it a condition of your lease, and once it's in a signed lease, it's enforceable. Here's what tenant insurance actually covers (your stuff and your liability, not the building), what a landlord can and can'

    9 min read
  • Lease & Agreements
    ONArticle

    Pet Policies in Ontario: Why "No Pets" Clauses Don't Hold (and the Exceptions That Do)

    That "no pets" line in your Ontario lease? It's void — section 14 of the Residential Tenancies Act makes no-pet clauses unenforceable once you're a tenant. But the rule has real limits: a landlord can refuse a pet owner before you sign, a condo declaration can still ban pets, and behaviour like damage, danger, or aller

    10 min read
  • Rights & Legal
    ONArticle

    The T2 Application: How Ontario Tenants Enforce Their Rights

    When a landlord enters without notice, harasses, changes the locks, or shuts off a vital service, the T2 is how an Ontario tenant fights back. This guide covers exactly what the T2 covers, the strict one-year deadline, the remedies you can ask for — rent abatement, compensation, an order to stop — and the mistakes that

    11 min read
  • Rent & Payments
    ONArticle

    The Last Month's Rent Deposit Rules in Ontario: A Landlord's Guide

    The last month's rent deposit is the most common — and most misunderstood — deposit in Ontario. It can only be used for the last month's rent, never for damage, and you owe your tenant interest on it every year. This guide shows landlords exactly what you can collect, how the annual interest and top-up work, and why al

    12 min read
  • Screening & Applications
    ONArticle

    Tenant Application Red Flags: What Ontario Landlords Should Watch For

    A clean-looking application can still hide trouble. This guide walks Ontario landlords through the real red flags on a rental application — refusal to consent, inconsistent details, references that don't check out, gaps in rental history — and, just as importantly, how to act on them lawfully without crossing into Huma

    12 min read
  • Rights & Legal
    ONArticle

    The N13 Notice in Ontario: Demolition, Conversion, and Major Repairs Explained

    The N13 is the notice an Ontario landlord uses to end a tenancy to demolish, convert, or do major repairs that need the unit empty. This guide walks through the three grounds, the 120-day notice rules, the compensation and right-to-return, and exactly how the process works — for both landlords serving one and tenants w

    12 min read
  • Rights & Legal
    ONArticle

    Ontario Renovictions: A Complete Guide for Landlords and Tenants

    "Renoviction" is when a landlord uses renovations to end a tenancy — sometimes legitimately, sometimes not. This complete guide explains how the N13 process actually works, the compensation and right-to-return rules, the new licensing crackdown under Bill 60/97, and how both landlords and tenants can stay on the right

    13 min read
  • Rights & Legal
    ONArticle

    The L10 Application: How Ontario Landlords Collect Money a Former Tenant Owes

    When a tenant moves out still owing you money, the L10 lets you take them to the LTB to collect — rent arrears, NSF charges, and utility costs. Here's who can use it, the one-year deadline that catches landlords out, what you can claim, and how to file and actually get paid.

    10 min read
  • Rights & Legal
    ONArticle

    The L9 Application: How Ontario Landlords Collect Rent Without Evicting

    The L9 lets an Ontario landlord ask the LTB for an order that a current tenant pay the rent they owe — without ending the tenancy. Here's when to use the L9 instead of an L1, how to file it, what the LTB can order, and how to actually collect once you win.

    10 min read
  • Rights & Legal
    ONArticle

    The 60-Day Rule: How Ontario Landlords Accidentally Create New Tenancies

    Miss this critical 60-day window and your unauthorized occupant becomes a legal tenant—with full RTA protections and rent control intact. Learn how section 104(4) of the Residential Tenancies Act creates "deemed assignments" and what every Ontario landlord must do to protect their property.

    16 min read
  • Rights & Legal
    ONHow-to

    Got an N4 Notice? Here's What to Do (Don't Panic)

    Received an N4 Notice from your landlord? Don't panic — you have options. Learn the exact steps to take, critical deadlines to know, and mistakes that could cost you your home. This guide walks Ontario tenants through everything from voiding the notice to preparing for an LTB hearing.

    12 min read
  • Rights & Legal
    ONGuide

    5 Things Your Landlord CAN'T Do in Ontario

    Renting in Ontario? You have rights. The Residential Tenancies Act (RTA) protects you from unfair landlord practices — but many tenants don't know what's actually illegal. Here are 5 things your landlord absolutely cannot do.

    3 min read