What can an Ontario landlord legally ask a rental applicant when screening a tenant?
An Ontario landlord may ask a rental applicant for credit references, rental history and permission to run a credit check, and may use them to select or refuse the applicant. Income information is different: it can be requested only alongside at least one of those other items, and it must be considered together with them.
The one exception is where the landlord asked for all of the listed information but obtained only income information, in which case income alone may be considered. A landlord may also require a guarantee for the rent, and a guarantor named in the lease who has no right to occupy the unit does not become a tenant.
A security deposit can only be a rent deposit of no more than one month's rent or one rent period, whichever is less, and it earns annual interest. A landlord cannot require post-dated cheques. The Human Rights Code protects equal treatment in housing, but the right is not infringed where you must share a kitchen or bathroom with the owner or the owner's family in a dwelling where they live. A 16- or 17-year-old who has withdrawn from parental control also has the right to equal treatment in renting.
Key takeaways
- A landlord may ask for credit references, rental history and permission for a credit check, and may use them to select or refuse an applicant.
- Income information may be requested only together with those other items, and income alone may be considered only if the landlord asked for everything but obtained just income.
- A security deposit may only be a rent deposit of no more than one month's rent or one rent period, whichever is less, and post-dated cheques cannot be required.
- Human Rights Code protections apply to renting, except where you must share a kitchen or bathroom with the owner or the owner's family in a dwelling where they live, and a 16- or 17-year-old who has withdrawn from parental control also has the right to equal treatment in renting.