r/montrealhousing

Hi guys my landlord initiated a rent increase earlier this year in which I refused and requested that it be taken to TAL. Fast forward a while (with me attempting to have a better relationship with him) he asks if I still want to go to TAL. I say if he does these specified repairs I would forgo tal and make a direct agreement with him. The repairs are now only partially done and July is the month in which the new rent would take effect. My landlord has now requested the new rent be paid however in my mind and how I worded my email I never agreed to the new rent increase just that I would forgo going to tal and make an agreement. My landlord now says that I agreed to the proposed Increase and is threatening to take me to the TAL for unpaid rent.

The wording is vague enough to imply either situation IE: I agreed to the rent increase given my repair requests were complete OR I would make an agreement once repairs were complete. My intention was the latter but regardless of the interpretation the agreement wasnt fully complete on his side.

My question is what should I do and should I be worried about eviction? I plan on continuing paying the full rent prior to the increase that was proposed prior to July 1st proposed increase. At this point I would prefer having the TAL decide if the proposed Increase is justified and would be more than willing to pay any arrears once they reach a decision.

Is this even a case of unpaid rent or a increase dispute and does that even make a difference to TAL?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Bonjour! My family and I would be moving to Montreal soon. For context, I would be starting a postdoc which should run for about 2-3 years and my spouse will have a work permit that isn’t tied to an employer.

Would like to say that we did have a pick of Montreal vs Windsor and Waterloo but settled on Montreal for a couple of professional reasons, and in the spirit of being open to new experiences, because the only point of skepticism for Montreal was really the language so we are like don’t knock till you try. I don’t have any personal attachment to English as it is not my mother tongue so I don’t mind learning another language in addition. We both learnt French in school while younger but didn’t not get to use it and we’ve only started learning again. Plus our kids are really young - 5 and 1 so maybe they can pick up French during our time there…

Now I’m generally worried about social integration for my 5 year. He is set to start Kindergarten in the fall and we were planning to enroll him in a French school so he can learn the language. I was speaking with a friend last weekend who mentioned how this move might be quite stressful for my son and suggested getting an exemption to enroll him in an English school instead so he isn’t dealing with too many changes at once. Based on my findings, I understand that it’s compulsory he goes to a French school. While I was initially looking forward to this, I am now starting to worry that this move might be a selfish one on my part because I focused so much on the group I wanted to work with while deciding between opportunities in Quebec and Ontario. It would probably be hard enough making friends as a newbie, without the added language pressure, then add the fact that he would be dealing with physical changes in his environment too. He was already looking forward to start Kindergarten at the University preparatory school in our current location in the U.S and I am hoping he would still be this excited about school.

I must say lurking around this sub as we plan our move also made me notice that the emphasis on French is much stronger than I presumed based on official correspondence and somewhat substantiates the concern my friend expressed. To be honest, I am also a bit worried about my spouse too but I think he can still hold himself (he is the one open to new experiences he’s said worst case scenario he would come back here and we might have to do long distance for a bit while I wrap up my project, hopefully we don’t have to do that). I don’t know if I’m spirally the move is quite close.

I would really appreciate perspectives if any about how the immersion of kids into French schools are managed.

We’ve also been thinking about housing and but given the skepticism I’m starting to feel, I am not sure how long we would stay, I’m wondering how common furnished housing (suitable for family) are. Is it even reasonable to rent a bare apartment and furnish by ourselves if we might be moving after a year?

I realize I just dumped a lot here and might not have been quite coherent, but I will appreciate thoughts on any of the issues or just general pointers even. Merci beaucoup par avance!

Edit: I know this is not the right sub for this kind of post per se, but I was unable to post on the Montreal sub.

My question is, what happens to the TAL file?
When I refuse and the lease end, does the file remain in place and we still need to check if I should pay difference?
Is waiting until the end of the contract the only option, or can I still look to do a lease transfer? I'm guessing no since it'll be complicated with the actual rent vs the amount the company wants.

For more context, I have two processes with the TAL since the company, owner of the building, has tried to increase our rent and both times I have not accepted while staying in the apartment.
But the greed of the company seems to have no end, so they're still increasing the rent even when no improvements to the buildings have been made. So, I'm thinking on looking for other place.

Extra question, when the TAL gives a resolution and there's an agreed increase, is the difference expected to be paid at once?
If the increase was $100+ per month it'll be difficult to pay >$1200 right away.

Hi folks,

I let my landlord know that I'm intending to transfer my lease as a heads-up that I am communicating with a potential assignee. The landlord responded with a pair of their own forms, one of which is for another company that does inquiry services and the other is a rental application. Neither form says "lease transfer" anywhere on it.

Are these typical forms that they might request from the assignee? I'm happy to help the assignee fill them out if so, but it still feels weird that they are demanding them from me. In particular, the landlord's forms don't even require my (assignor's) name, they don't mention "lease transfer," and they don't give anywhere to mention conditions on the assignment agreement. I want the landlord to have notice of a condition: I offered the assignee an incentive that may affect the landlord's determination of whether they can afford the rent. I was going to send the landlord a Notice of Lease Assignment (TAL 802A) and a copy of the Assignment of Lease Agreement (TAL 817A) between the assignee and myself, which mentions the incentive under "Other Conditions."

So basically:

1. Can the landlord demand I fill out their own non-standard forms? (Especially instead of the standard ones?)
2. If I do not fill them out, could that lead to a "serious reason" to decline the transfer?
3. And if I do not need to fill out the landlord's forms, am I correct in the forms that I do need to send?
4. My potential assignee has a copy of my lease attached to the draft Assignment of Lease Agreement. To notify the landlord of the incentive, should I send the whole document to the landlord with the lease attached or just the agreement itself?

Thank you for your help!

So my building has installed the AC for every floor except mine

I have now told my landlord I will not be sending them the rent till they put it up

How do I set up the account for this to be done legally?

I made a post on here a couple days ago about a possible apartment scam after moving here from across the country,

So It turns out most of you were right, it was actually a scam and there is no “landlord” well not for that building, it’s occupied by 2 people already. I went back earlier today and they were there and politely let me in I showed them my lease/texts all communications which did look like a real lease too btw but they said the name of the person claiming to be their landlord well it’s not their landlord and they’ve been living their for 5 years….

I can’t believe people would do this. Especially to someone who MOVED ACROSS THE COUNTRY. I have no friends here, no contacts, only my job that I I’m supposed to start tomorrow. So if anybody has any help with temporary housing please let me know. Must be able to accompany a cat. Preferably cheap because most of my savings were used on the “apartment”.

Also if anybody knows how I can possibly get my money back or if it’s even possible and what steps I should take from here regarding the scam please let me know.

Thank you.

My partner and I both put out the chairs & string, and a little cardboard sign that says "Déménagement :)". Mine was on St-Denis during rush hour, hers on St-Joseph overnight.

Nobody moved them. Nobody stole them. Nobody took the spots. Everybody respected the chairs & string. I even saw a different moving van park beside my chairs & string.

Anyways, this is just a little "faith in humanity" post. I think it's easy, especially on Reddit, for folks to dunk on how this city has gone downhill, or there's no more social contract.

But the chairs & string still work. Glory be the chairs & string.

I was hoping to get the community's opinion and experience on if the following would qualify as unsanitary conditions that would allow me to terminate my lease:

The basement of the house we took possession of as of July 1st is very damp (77% humidex). The reason why unfortunately only became clear when I started cleaning it up. The corners of the foundation have roots and soil coming through gaps. It was hard to see because it's a semi dug out basement with spray foam insulation. And that insulation fell and covered the areas in question. Kinda just looked dirty when we first looked at the place.

Once I started cleaning I found pockets of soil mixed with insulation thats clearly been damp for a few weeks. There were also old pallets, and furniture that's been sitting in the damp. Some of the furniture had white mold growing on it (all documented). However the structure of the building itself doesn't have any visible mold.

I first inspected the basement in February and it looked like a typically old basement. I expected the basement to be empty but my mistake was not to agree to it explicitly with the landlord. I figure that was just part of the agreement implicitly.

Now all that being said I'm not sure if the TAL would basically ask the landlord to empty the basement and maybe install a dehumidifier. In my mind the presence of roots and soil means this place has larger issues that basically can't be fixed in a reasonable timeframe.

If you've made it this far thank you for taking the time to read my post, any thoughts and comments appreciated ❤️

Bonjour fellow Montrealers! This is a bit embarrassing to post and honestly I know it’s my fault so please don’t make me feel bad about it anymore than I already do. I just moved here from BC and flew in this morning. Well, was supposed to but I think I may have been scammed by my landlord or the post or whoever was behind it.

I have been texting the number all day letting them know I have arrived and when can I get the keys to bring my stuff in and since then it’s been nothing but radio silence. I’m currently sitting at the Bonaventure metro station waiting for an answer. I sent my rent prior to getting here. (I know this was a mistake now), but it just really sucks I’m across the country and have no idea what to do. I’m still hoping it’s just a misunderstanding or something and the landlord has no access to their phone atm but the more I wait the more I think I’ve been scammed. I don’t have any money left from my move and flight and I have my cat with me as well. Does anybody have any idea what I should do. I don’t speak French (I was going to start taking classes) :( but now I just want to go back home. For reference I’m a 23 (f) and don’t know anybody from here it was just a dream of mine to move here and experience the culture and create my art and I thought I found the cutest little apartment. I do also have a job lined up that I was supposed to start this Monday.

Please if anyone has any advice on what I should do or my next steps should be please let me know, I can’t think properly right now and im exhausted from this whole experience.

Thank you

My partner and I signed a lease to an apartment that had preexisting cockroach infestation we were unaware of. Took the keys July 2 in the night, walked around and saw glue traps already there but didn't have time for more than a walk around. We also discovered a major safety concern in the balcony and water damage causing soft flooring and loose railing; this was our initial major concern.

The following day, July 3, I went in with cleaning supplies to wipe down the kitchen, closets and do a nice clean up before we start moving our things in. Checking the kitchen meant checking the traps and there were over a dozen roaches in the traps, some were nymphs and clearly tiny, there were roach egg sacks, droppings and diatomaceous earth in the dishwasher, the floors and all around the kitchen. This is from the property manager, prior to our inspection.

Speaking with tenants this building has a long history of issues whether it be mice, bedbugs or water damage leading to serious physical injury.

We have somewhere to stay. We were not informed of the infestation. We have a storage unit for our belongings. We are not going to habit this apartment.

We have notified the landlord July 3 noon of the balcony and a detailed notification hoping for a mutual resiliation of the lease around ~6pm. Attached videos of the balcony, the roaches and their traps.

We are not going to move in. What paths are available to cancel my lease?

What is the most effective course of action?

My landlord has completely disappeared is not responding to calls texts emails meanwhile i am due to give up my apartment I have written him telling him that I am gone but wish to give him the keys and technically the flat is still in my possession and nothing
I hope they’re ok
What do I do?

Just wanted to confirm what I have:

2 floors (ground floor + basement) ~1400 square feet,

1st floor

-kitchen / dining area that kinda serves as a living room as well
-bathroom / shower
-one small bedroom
-a bigger bedroom

basement:

-living room with a door leading to water heater , washer/dryer,
-bathroom/shower
-an office kind of room with it's own entrance from the back.
-from the previous office room , there's a door that leads to another bedroom

would that qualify as a 6 1/2?

thanks! This was my primary residence and I didn't really think much about it until now

Hi everyone,

I’m moving to Montreal for a master’s program, and my roommate and I are looking for a 2-bedroom apartment for August 1st. Ideally, we’d like to be downtown / Ville-Marie / Griffintown / near Centre Bell, preferably within about a 20-minute walk.

Our combined budget is around $2,000/month total, but we’d be willing to go a bit higher for the right place. Good natural light is important to us. Furnished would be ideal, but we’re willing to go unfurnished if we really have to.

We’ve been looking, but it’s been hard to find something that works for both of us, especially with August 1st coming up. I know July 1st is the big moving date in Montreal, so I’m wondering:

Is it still realistic to find a decent 2-bedroom for August 1st at this point? Are there specific sites, Facebook groups, lease transfer groups, or strategies you’d recommend? Should we expand our search to certain nearby neighborhoods while still being close to downtown?

Any advice or leads would be really appreciated. Thanks!

TLDR please if you have experience with a demand letter to landlord including cockroaches, rent reduction, compensation for needing to move please share your experience

Does anyone have experience sending a demand letter (mise en demeure) to their landlord for cockroach issues?

We’ve had them in and off for over a year, I first notified the landlord over 18 months ago and he only had the exterminator come twice (once to our unit only and once to half the building only).

We have a baby, a month ago a roach FELL ONTO HIS CHANGE TABLE while I was changing his diaper and I immediately asked the landlord to have the entire building treated which he has yet to take action on.

I’m wondering if anyone has experience with sending a demand letter to their landlord as we 1) need the issue addressed and 2) would like to seek some rent reduction or compensation.

We can’t really afford to move but given that we have a baby it absolutely needs to be taken care of or we will have no choice, in which case we would need to seek some dédommagement at the very least for moving expenses.

Really appreciate hearing anyone’s experience

Basically heres the situation. I’m currently on a joint lease with 2 other roommates in a condo-like apartment. We are all girls and students. My lease is supposed to end on July 31st but my parents told me I could leave early if I sublet my room for July so I thought it was a good idea. I emailed the landlord for a lease transfer and she had told me I should have given at least a month notice for the paperwork so I’m like whatever I’ll sublet.

I told my roommates mid-june I’m going to sublet the room. Unfortunately they’re both out on vacation in europe or somewhere. They told me its fine to sublet my room for july so I can leave a month early so I post an ad and start doing visits. However a lot of the applicants only wanted to agree to be my subtenant for July if they could also be guaranteed the full year lease starting August 1st. I’m not very knowledgeable with this so I said its not a problem. Theres one candidate I really liked but it wasn’t finalized yet.

I told my roommates about the situation and they kinda freaked out on me. They angrily insisted that the agreement is only to sublet my room for July and that when I’m gone, I have no final say on who the tenant could be for August. I told them thats not a valid reason to refuse my possible subtenant. They both told me I cannot be giving the people applying to sublet my room for July any guarantee that they will also be the tenant for a full year starting august 1st because THEY will choose. I told them they can’t do this.

Needless to say all my applicants backed out on me. I contacted the landlord and they’re not interested in the roommate dispute but they told me regardless if I found a person to sublet or not, I would still need to e-transfer her the money and that I’m responsible for collecting any payment from my subtenant. Is this true?

Because of my roommates interference despite not even being here, I lost out on a subtenant and had to pay my July rent. Can I take this to TAL? So that they’re liable to pay my rent? What are my chances of winning?