Ontario passed new legislation today that broadens rent control rules to cover more units, prevents landlords from charging above-guideline rent increases for rising utility bills and toughens the requirements for evictions from units for personal use by landlords.
There are also other, more minor changes to the Residential Tenancies Act. The Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario praises the suite of new rules as the biggest positive change to tenants’ rights in over a decade.
The Rental Fairness Act, 2017 expands rent control to all private rental units, including those occupied on or after November 1, 1991.
The legislation also introduces additional protections for tenants, including:
- Enabling a standard lease to help both tenants and landlords know their rights and responsibilities, while reducing the number of disputes
- Protecting tenants from eviction due to abuse of the "landlord's own use" provision
- Ensuring landlords can't pursue former tenants for unauthorized charges
- Prohibiting above-guideline rent increases in buildings where elevator maintenance orders have not been addressed
- Removing above-guideline rent increases for utilities, to protect tenants from carbon costs and encourage landlords to make their buildings more energy efficient.
However, the new legislation does NOT eliminate all types of above-guideline increases.
Generally, a landlord can only increase a tenant's rent by a guideline amount set annually by the Ontario government. For 2017, the guideline rate is 1.5%.
Landlords can continue to apply to the Landlord and Tenant Board for above-guideline rent increases under certain circumstances. There is no legal requirement under the Residential Tenancies’ Act for landlords to set aside a portion of the rent for major repairs. Ontario legislation allows landlords to claim certain major expenses through above-guideline increases
Landlords can also determine rent levels for new tenants. That means when a current tenant moves out, the landlord can increase the rent for the new tenant by an amount greater than the guideline increase.
You can learn more about new changes to rules affecting landlords by attending the Tenant Rights Info Session, Monday, May 29, 7 p.m. in the lobby of 8 Park Vista.
