A common law relationship, for example. Does the same rule apply? Can the landlord refuse rental payments and terminate the tenancy even if the lease is not up? HI My MIL said that the manager of the property where she rents a 1 bedroom apartment has left papers under every door of the building she lives in.
It is a two building complex with more than 30 apartments per building. It is not a retirement home or nursing home, simply a building which "caters" to a senior age bracket. The papers make a demand for a copy of the tenant's will and power of attorney to be provided to the building manager. This feels like an invasion of privacy and a gross overreach of authority. I have told my MIL to just send in the names of her next of kin and their contact information while we bid for time getting this answer.
Is this an overreach or does my MIL have to provide copies of these documents? Hi: Wow, now I have heard everything! The demand is outrageous. Your advice to your MIL was just fine. Landlord's Ontario have no right to this information. I know, right? Darn, just when I thought I had heard just about everything! What makes me more incensed than his audacity, is knowing that there are residents in this complex who do not know what their rights are and may be intimidated by this letter.
It's an egregious violation of their trust. Hi- my mother has passed after living in her apartment for ten years last October. MY sister who is on disability has lived with her the entire time. Nothing has happened yet and the rent has been paid the entire time.
Now the management company is asking for proof of death and proof of executorship nine months later. We are not sure what what they are up to.
Should we be worried? Hi Mark: Firstly, I am sorry for your loss. I have to assume that your sister wishes to continue living in the apartment? As your sister has been there the entire time query whether she is a tenant--as legally defined. Not being named on the lease is not necessarily determinative of the question. If she is named as a tenant on the lease then that is conclusive. If she is a tenant then she has the right to continue living there.
If she is a tenant, then the landlord's questions about proof of death and proof of executorship are quite frankly none of their business. Why would the landlord be asking these questions?
Presuming there is a purpose to the questions I would GUESS that they are only now finding out about your mother's passing or alternatively they are trying to make it appear like they are only now finding out about your mother's passing. As the article describes, a tenant's death operates to terminate a tenancy. Exceptions are granted to spouses if they wish to continue the tenancy. Your sister does not qualify for any automatic right to continue the tenancy.
What is interesting though is that the occupation of a rental unit on an ongoing basis may indeed create a tenancy or deem an assignment of a tenancy. In this regard I'm thinking about the unauthorized occupancy provisions at section of the RTA.
Your sister has clearly continued to occupy the premises past the termination date of the tenancy. The landlord has continued to accept rent from, presumably, your sister? Is there evidence that the landlord was aware of your mother's passing?
A landlord is required to take action against unauthorized occupants within 60 days of becoming aware of their occupation of a rental unit. After that time, a tenancy may be deemed to exist or be deemed assigned. Asking for a death certificate etc. Ultimately, should you be worried? The questions they are asking this long after your mother's passing does suggest that the landlord is up to something.
I can't imagine it being anything other than trying to assert that the tenancy is terminated and that your sister must move out. Accordingly, be careful in how you interact with them. I wouldn't refuse a death certificate as anyone can order it--it is a public document. However, I would supply these documents with a covering letter commenting how they knew that your mother passed away and that this is confirmation. Or you could write back asking why they need it as they knew your mother died 9 months ago.
Maybe confirm condolences received from Landlord staff? Ultimately, if they are trying to get the unit back--you need to take at least a two pronged defence--your sister has always been a tenant so the passing of your mother doesn't terminate the tenancy or alternatively, if your sister wasn't a tenant then the passage of time and her occupation of the unit for over 9 months post passing of your mother deems her to be a tenant as the landlord was aware of the occupation of the unit by your sister after your mother's death.
Hi Michael, This is the closest situation to my current experience. I am on disability and I had been subletting and living with my mom who had passed away in January.
I am not named on the rental agreement with the property owner, so I assume that I am therefore not a legal tenant as defined by Ontario law.
I had acquired this apartment for my mom back in I had even paid the first and last month's rent on behalf of my mom out of my summer earnings. However, I chose not to be named on the rental agreement because I was moving away to attend university. I returned home to live with my mom at least ten years ago and failed to add my name to the rental agreement. I am the executor of my mom's will as well as the sole beneficiary, not that she had any major assets.
I had not notified the landlord of my mom's passing. My intentions were to find a new apartment and to dispose of my mom's personal belongings before notifying the landlord to terminate the lease.
However, my neighbour approached me in the hall yesterday and asked me point blank if my mom had died. After telling her that my mom had passed away last month, she said the landlord had asked her if she knew if my mom had died because he saw the obituary in the news paper. I received a letter addressed to my mom's estate slipped under the apartment door today stating that the lease is null and void 30 days after her death and that they intend to change the locks on our unit on March 1st.
I have yet to find a new apartment. I have yet to go through my mom's possessions and I have yet to start packing because I had undergone neurosurgery on January 31st and cannot do any heavy housework such as packing for at least six weeks after surgery.
Is there any way that I can be protected from eviction on March 1st? I would like to remain in this apartment until at least May 1st so that I can recover from surgery, pack-up everything and move to an apartment that I can afford on my own. Because the surgery was so soon after my mom's passing, I haven't really dealt with much else. I don't know what to do. I don't even have copies of my mom's death certificate to deal with things like Revenue Canada.
The death certificates have yet to be released from our Indian Band. The funeral director said the death certificates go directly to the band so they can recoup money from CPP for the funeral expenses before they can be released to me as executor of my mom's estate. Is there anything I can do? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Sincerely, David Walker. HI David: I am very sorry for your loss. It seems, quite understandably, that you are grieving the loss of your mom and that everything is rather over-whelming at the moment.
I hope you can find comfort and support from friends and your community and certainly speak with your doctor if it seems to all be too much to handle. I appreciate the facts you have provided here. The residential tenancies act does terminate a tenancy 30 days after the date of death of a tenant--if the tenant was the sole tenant in the unit. There are additional exceptions for spouses etc..
Based on what you have set out here I don't think we should assume that you are not a tenant. I'd want to analyze quite closely whether you are indeed a tenant with RTA protections. Don't concede this point to the landlord and don't assume that you are not a tenant as defined in the RTA. This is something that the Landlord and Tenant Board should likely decide.
In the mean time, changing your locks would be illegal. I'm afraid that saying a whole lot more in this response is very difficult because there are a lot of unanswered questions and your strategy moving forward depends on what you want. For instance, can you afford the rent and do you want to stay? Does the landlord like you well enough?
Can you afford the rent on your own? Can you afford what would be the new market rent? Will the landlord negotiate with you? Will the landlord negotiate with you if there is a legal fight brewing? The answers to these questions, and others, are necessary for a lawyer or paralegal to decide how to represent you.
I do hope that you are able to get representation. Try a local community legal clinic or local lawyers or paralegals that have experience with landlord and tenant law. I don't know where in Ontario you are located but hopefully you have access to experienced legal representationthe key being "experienced". If the local clinic is unable to help you--or it's beyond their immediate resources--ask them if they can arrange for a legal aid certificate that you can use to retain a private lawyer.
I don't use this blog to "get clients" as my purpose here is to share information and not to be conducting businesshowever, if you are near me then know I would help you. If you are not near me but have a lawyer or paralegal that would like to speak with me I'd be happy to give them my thoughts about what to explore on your behalf.
Good luck David. My Dad was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer 1 year ago. Up until now, he was still living very well on his own but took a turn for the worse a little over a week ago. Long-story-short, my Dad is no longer capable of living on his own and will now be transferred to a hospice where he will spend the rest of his days until his time comes. What type of notice do I need to give the landlord to advise that my Dad will no longer be residing in the apartment?
Is it still 60 days since he hasn't passed away, or does the 30 days notice still apply to this case? If it is 60 days Thanks a lot for your help. Hi: I'm sorry for the difficult time that you are having. Bless you for looking after your dad.
At the present time you would still give a 60 day notice in a Form N9 available on the Landlord and Tenant Board website. If during the notice period your father passes I do believe that would trigger the 30 day termination and the tenancy would finish sooner if within the 60 day period. If your father passes towards the end of the 60 day period the notice period would not be extended as a valid notice to termination will already have been given.
Take care. Yours very truly Michael K. Can an executor make me leave the premises when me and my boyfriend lived together for four years?
They took the car now they want me to leave the house :. Hi: You don't give me enough facts to understand your situation. If it is your landlord who died and your tenancy was covered by the RTA then you continue to have the protections of the Residential Tenancies Act.
The death of a landlord does not terminate a tenancy. My landlady has just recently passed away, they were renting the house and subletted a single room to me in the house. What are My rights? She left a husband, but his name was not on my lease! Hi Russ: It is unclear from the facts you describe whether you are covered by the Residential Tenancies Act or not. If you were in a house owned by the landlord but the landlord did not live there and other persons occupied other rooms then you are likely a tenant in a rooming house with Residential Tenancies Act protections.
If your landlady was a tenant in a house owned by her landlord and you rented a room for her i. The death of a landlord does not terminate a residential tenancy in Ontario. The estate would become your landlord and eventually any purchaser of the property from the estate or any beneficiary to whom the property is transferred would become your landlord on the same terms and conditions as with the deceased. If your relationship is not covered by the RTA your rights were rather limited in the first place.
While the contract between you and the landlady is still a valid contract death does not likely frustrate the contract , you might find that there is no willingness to continue the relationship between the estate and yourself.
As a non-RTA covered occupant you do not have a lot of rights to remain in the premises. It is important for you to figure out whether you are RTA covered or not. That will be the key to the answer to your question. I have a quick question about LMR deposit and the passing of a tenant. My father in law passed away and my husband is the next of kin. There is no will, executor or administrator of the estate. His rent is paid up so only the LMR remains. What are the obligations of the landlord in this situation and whom is the LMR deposit payable to?
Hi: The Residential Tenancies Act does not specifically set out what happens with the Last Month's Rent deposit after a tenant passes away. If the rent is paid up until the deemed termination date of the tenancy then the LMR will have to be returned to the tenant--which in your situation will be the estate.
Of course, if the relationship with the landlord is reasonable and presumably the landlord has been dealing with your husband as the estate representative--i. The landlord, I think, could reasonably ask for a letter confirming that you are receiving this money on behalf of the estate and if there is any claim from the estate for it that your husband will pay it.
As the sum is not likely to be a large amount of money this would be the most reasonable way to proceed. My husband and I share joint tenancy for our rental. If one of us passes away does the other HAVE to complete the term of the lease or can they vacate after 30 days without penalty? I ask because just one of us could not afford to carry the monthly rent alone. Hi: In Ontario that has, historically, been very little guidance in the residential tenancies law about the death of a tenant.
We have more guidance now with section 91 and the regulations and spouses are in fact tenants by definition if they wish to be when the named residential tenant passes away. However, you are describing a somewhat different situation. You are both named tenants on the lease. The effect of this is that the normal rule that a tenancy ends 30 days after the death of a tenant is not applicable. The law simply makes you the sole tenant arguably the common law assignment of the tenancy to you applies.
If you need to terminate the tenancy after the death of your spouse then that is something to work out with the landlord. Hi Michael, If a tenant dies and the family or executor cannot remove all the personal belongings, is the property manager make a claim against the estate for the removal costs? This section allows the landlord to dispose of the property once the tenancy is terminated.
Presumably in the disposal there will be some value and things that are valuable should not just be thrown away by the landlord. Notwithstanding the direction in the RTA, a landlord should preserve clearly sentimental items and things that can not be easily replaced for a more reasonable period of time than after the termination of the tenancy. Selling or throwing out should really only be done once the family is contacted or serious attempts of contact have been made.
While the RTA says liability does not attach to a landlord once the tenancy ends, the Courts have looked at this differently. As you can see from section 92, a landlord can charge an estate for the costs against the proceeds from selling and dealing with the stuff. This arises when the family or executor approaches the landlord for the proceeds of sale or the return of the property. However, what if no one shows up? Can a landlord charge the estate? The RTA is silent on this question.
However, I think charging an estate is next to impossible if no-one shows up to administer the estate. Who do you claim against if there is no executor? You already have all the assets in the apartment? How do you actually get paid if there is only a deceased tenant and no executor?
I suppose, it is theoretically possible for a landlord to sue an estate, have an estate trustee appointed, and get compensation that way. The expenses better be extraordinary though because proceeding that way will take a lot of legal expense. Hi Michael, what would happen if the tenant had dependable family members and had died while being the bread winner of the family, thereby, leaving the dependable family members with no income in the apartment.
Would they be forced to leave after 30 days? Hi: If the lease only contains the name of a single family member as the tenant then the tenancy will terminate 30 days after the date of death of the named tenant.
If there are other family members named as tenants then the lease continues. If there is a spouse of the deceased tenant living in the rental unit then that spouse has an option to continue the tenancy or vacate. The applicable Rules are in O. Otherwise, the dependents would have to vacate the rental unit after the termination of the tenancy. Deals of course can be worked out and if agreeable, the 30 day time limit can be extended with the landlord's agreement usually if the rent is paid.
Do you have to inform your landlord of the death of your roommate suicide who is not named as a tenant on lease for the rental property? Hi: I presume from your question that this has happened to you and for that you have my sympathy.
Please make sure to reflect on how this has impacted you and to speak with someone about the traumatic impact of your roommate dying by suicide. I presume that under the circumstances police, paramedics, coroner, and other "officialdom" was notified of the death, they attended, and all was properly resolved.
Beyond that, there is no specific obligation in the Ontario Residential Tenancies Act to notify the landlord of this event. Accordingly, there is no basis for termination or eviction in the RTA for the failure to inform the landlord of the incident. If you are in a multi-tenant building, the other tenants will presumably be aware and will probably inform the landlord anyway. If there is a particular reason why you are worried about the landlord finding out about this death please feel free to say so.
If you are worried about the roommate not being on the lease, or something of that nature, you may be surprised to learn that the landlord for example has not right to restrict who your roommates are. I hope that helps. If there are specific concerns that you would like to ask please feel free to email me privately and I will respond no charge.
What is the law if i lost my father and he had a temporary roomate who is not on the lease? I do not want this person there when i go to deal with my dads things, and do not trust this person necessarily either.
Hi: Firstly, my condolences to you. The roommate has no legal status in the property vis a vis the landlord. Thank you for watching this module about dealing with tenant belongings when the tenant has died. If you have a specific issue or situation, please contact a legal service provider. Sound Advice for Landlords Podcast. Fiduciaries can be either other people or corporations such as a trust company , and are charged with a "fiduciary" duty to manage property for interests other than their own.
Typically, but not always, these 'other interests' are the best interests of the owner or former owner of the subject property. Bankruptcy is a variation on this where the interests to be served are those of the creditors.
In order to understand the role of a fiduciary in these situations it is important to appreciate that from the perspectives of both landlords and tenants a tenancy has both a "possessory" aspect and an "interest in land" ie.
Further, a tenancy - being akin to a contract - also has potential liabilities associated with it. The role of a fiduciary is primarily involved with the title interest. Tenant fiduciaries are rarely - if ever - really interested in the possessory aspect of the tenancy themselves ie. Similarly, while landlord fiduciaries may be interested in regaining possession from any occupying tenants in order to make the property more saleable, they rarely have any personal interest in possession.
Note: Situations where a tenant transfers their possessory rights are dealt with in s. Situations were a spouse survives a deceased tenant and wants to retain possession are dealt with in s. Fiduciaries can come in many forms and in many situations, including: Executors The person designated in a will by the deceased to follow their instructions ie.
Estate Administrators Where a person dies without a will intestate then interested persons can go to court to have an "administrator" of the estate appointed.
They then perform the same essential functions as an executor above. Trustees Property can be transferred into a "trust", which technically is a "title" conveyance ie. Trusts have a variety of uses, and are sometimes used as a device to hold the assets of children those under 18 until they reach the age of majority 18th birthday. A "power of attorney" is a common way of arranging for one's affairs while out of the country or when concerned that one might become mentally incompetent through advanced age or otherwise.
This can be achieved through the use of relatively simple documentation packages are available from the Public Guardian and Trustee's office. A Power of Attorney achieves goals similar to that of a trust but avoids the formal transfer of the property to the "Attorney".
Rather the "attorney" acts as the owner's legal representative for property purposes. Bankruptcy Trustees A person can be put "into bankruptcy" voluntarily assignment , or involuntarily by the way of petition or less commonly the appointment of a "receiver". In any case the process involves a legal not necessarily a physical "transfer" of all the bankrupt's property to the trustee or receiver.
The "trustee in bankruptcy" is then charged with determining all the bankrupt's assets and liabilities, liquidating assets and then paying off the liabilities in accordance with certain rules and priorities. In personal bankruptcies the bankrupt is typically allowed to keep control and use of many items for their immediate personal use.
However corporations and large proprietors can go bankrupt leaving "assets" including property and in some cases leases which are viewed as assets as well - in the hands of the trustee or receiver. Thus a tenant may find themselves one day on the receiving end of a notice asserting the appointment of the bankruptcy trustee and directing that they start paying their rent to them instead of the landlord.
The status of tenants and mortgagee through these proceedings is discussed at length in Ch. Trustees Who have "taken title" to the property for management purposes. Sublettor and Assignor Tenants This issue relates to the passage in the definition above [ a ] reading: "other than a tenant who occupies a rental unit in a residential complex and who permits another person to also occupy the unit or any part of the unit".
Note from s. Therefore tenants who are merely sharing the unit with another person but remaining in occupation themselves do not meet the definition of "landlord" for present purposes.
Subtenants and assignors however - who do give up occupation - do meet the definition. This seems odd, but further note that RTA provisions exist which allow sublettors who, unlike assignors, retain a residual right to return to the premises to apply to the Board for Orders evicting sub-tenants [see Ch.
Personal Representatives This can include those acting under a Power of Attorney. Chiarelli Ont CA, the court held that someone acting as a representative of a landlord, without being licensed to do so and not falling under any Law Society provisions which exempted them from the requirement of paralegal licensing, did not fall under the RTA s.
Further, such representation did not render the agent a landord under any of the phrasings of the definition of "landlord" contained in Act s.
While technically a tenant's lease is their asset, and technically is transferrable through assignment or a sub-tenancy, few if any heirs, assignees or representatives try to realize any value from it - it just isn't worth the effort. The definition's exclusion of shareholders of a corporate owner is also superfluous as no one would advance them realistically as "tenants", and - barring a unique shareholder agreement - shareholder status alone not impute possessory rights to corporate property.
This 'shareholder' exclusion clause is probably meant to address the so-called 'co-ownership' arrangements that have been little tested in law. The definition of "tenant" is broad enough to encompass subtenants and assignees: ie.
This complements the conclusion reached in the discussion of "sublettors" as landlords above. Note further that not all legal occupants of rented premises are 'tenants' just by that fact. It is very common to have one adult resident enter into the lease who "pays the rent" , and then have their spouse and children or any other sharing co-residents for that matter live with them.
Unless they have, either expressly or by implication, established themselves as full tenants for example by paying rent then these others are non-tenant occupants. The situation is different if the deceased leaves a spouse living in the rental unit. Generally, if the sole tenant dies leaving a surviving spouse who lives in the unit, the spouse can either vacate within the day period or remain in the unit and become the tenant. That does not apply to social housing, certain government housing or care homes retirement residences or long-term care facilities.
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