r/OntarioRenting

Hi, my girlfriend and i discussed with our current landlord about ending our year lease early because our apartment no longer fits our needs, as we have found another. They agreed so long as someone else takes over our apartment, which they offered to list our unit as available and that we would be responsible for the rent until either the end of our lease or until someone takes over.

After we set everything up with the new apartment, we asked our current landlord if she will be listing our unit availability publicly, which she said no.

is she allowed to refuse publicly listing the apartment and/or deny applicants if we put up and ad ourselves? Thanks!

Hi, i’m gonna be renting a studio for the first time. My LL is supposed to cover AC/heat and I’m in charge of covering hydro. I was wondering how this works since I have to register with Toronto hydro? Plus which rate is better for a studio?

I’ve been renting a 1 bed basement unit of a house since May 2020. It is a legal unit but only has 1 window that brings in a small patch of sunlight.
The apartment is about 900sqft and has a washer/dryer included, 2 parking spots and a patio with fenced in yard.

The only reason I’m staying is because my rent is about 1350-1400/month and I know once I leave they are going to increase this rent and I won’t find anything like this for this price.

The other apartments within my budget are bachelors, or basement units. The odd above ground one that might be in my budget doesn’t have similar or comparable amenities to what I have now.

I feel pretty trapped in this situation, my boyfriend is a student and has no income, so it’s on me to support the household for the time being.

What would you suggest?
Bite the bullet to move above ground or;
Suck it up until he finishes school

Mind you- it’s been 6+ years of basement life and I am SO over it :/

Thanks for your time and perspectives!

I will be moving into a two bedroom unit on the tenth floor of a concrete building.
My landlord ‘requires’ renters insurance.
This is my first apartment living experience.
Can anyone point me in the direction of cheap renters insurance? I have plenty of options for temporary housing and my ‘stuff’ really isn’t all that valuable.

i'm going to keep things vague here in case something weird happens, but basically my dad is finishing up signing a rental agreement for a property in orangeville, and the person he's been communicating with just sent him a large document in addition to the rental agreement.

at the end of this document the woman that my dad has been talking to has slapped a 1600$ fee for her "Services" ... which is about half the rent of the property.

my dad's not made of money right now so this came as a shock to him, and the way he explained it made me think it was a scam, or at least a way to get extra money out of people who don't know any better.

please let me know if he can just ignore this ludicrous fee, cause all that she's been doing is being a middleman for the landlord, surely that means the landlord should be paying her??

thanks

EDIT: forgot to mention that my dad is fairly sure she didn't disclose this fee up front

EDIT 2: OKAY so everything is good, the realtor didn't tell my dad that the form that she sent is for both landlord and tenant? It's really weird but she says that he doesn't have to pay. She may just have bad communication skills.

I have not moved in yet but he said when it comes to tax filing season he mentioned not to use the address that I will be staying at (his basement rental unit) because he is going to move away to a different country soon and his accountant told him to tell me not to use the address, for tax purposes.

Will ​that affect me in any way?

edit texted him telling him I'm not comfortable with what he's asking me to do. he said that should be fine but that he will check with said accountant and will get back to me

update: We spoke on the phone and he said" his accountant" said that there is no implications at all but if i want to use it then he won't be moving forward with my application 😂 we didn't move forward lmfao

What's the feature you've come to appreciate the most after actually living somewhere? Some people say natural light or soundproofing but I think quiet neighbors are a godsend.

Hey everyone, looking for some advice on an Ontario tenancy situation.
For context, I’ve been living here for about 3 years. The first year I had a lease, the second year I went month to month, and when my girlfriend moved in we went back onto a fixed term lease. That lease ended earlier this year.
After that, my landlord offered me a work arrangement where I’d do about 4 hours of property related work per month at $25/hour, and he’d take $100 off my rent every month. He called it a “1 year contract.” No mention of a lease renewal.
I understood the 1 year to be referring to the work arrangement because at the time i wanted to stay here and didn’t think much of it (probably my fault)

I never signed an Ontario Standard Lease or any other lease for this new arrangement. Everything was discussed through text.
Now my landlord is saying that I agreed to a 1 year tenancy and that he expected me to stay for the full year. I want to move out due to a job opportunity that came up.
Can a vague text conversation like this establish a 1 year fixed term lease if I never signed a lease and understood the “1 year contract” to be about the work?
Would appreciate any advice from people familiar with Ontario tenancy law.

https://archive.is/0pJc6

We moved into my partners dad’s place quietly, not on paper. It was pretty much a lease takeover without telling the building. The building now knows and this is not a current issue. He said the rent is $1542, it includes everything, have fun. We paid that amount, and every year the building has put in a request to raise the rent above the AGI. We now just got a tenant ledger stating we owe almost $5500. It shows the rent increased in 2026 but we were paying the old price as the AGI wasn’t approved yet (building and tenants just went to round 1 of court for the 2023 increase). I want to reiterate that NONE of the AGI’s that the building applied have been approved.

What happened was, we were told the wrong amount of rent from the start, and not told that DID NOT include parking. So we’ve been about $100 short on rent every month for 3 years unknowingly. We’ve been paying $1542 and should’ve been paying $1634 in 2025 and $1713 in 2026 WITH UNAPPROVED AGI. I am fully aware and taking responsibility that we need to pay the parking and rent difference from our mistake of the wrong rent amount.

What I want to know is, do I really have to pay the new rent amount monthly+backpay of what I wasn’t paying, if the AGI is unapproved? Knowing I have a balance that high on the place I live and raise my kids is stressing me out beyond belief.