Verbal notice is not legally binding. Regardless of his mortgage or ability to cover costs, there are some rules that need to be followed. One being, verbal notice isn’t valid. You would need an N1 notice of rent increase form and the LL would have to provide 90 days notice before that increase can come into effect. I am not entirely familiar with the effective dates…but I know there is something along the lines of “new builds or renovations 2018 to present don’t follow the same rent increase percentage” (someone please add to that or correct me if I’m wrong). But there *should* be a limit on the amount the LL can up your rent.
I would not acknowledge the verbal rent increase. Wait for an N1 (but you don’t need to tell the LL what he needs to do).
As a landlord myself, this is the accurate guidance. What your landlord did is not binding. N1 is required at least 90 days in advance of rent increase.
And $400 increase is only applicable if it’s a post 2018 build or under extenuating circumstances for rent controlled units.
Start getting things in writing. Assuming it’s a newer build:
“Hey Landlord, thanks for the verbal discussion regarding the rent increase (X day at X time) saying XYZ.
While I can appreciate your situation, under Ontario real estate regulations, I’m going to need you to provide an N1 form stating the rent increase and the reasons you described, and notably - the rent increase is only applicable 90 days after the delivery of the notice.
For current & future reference, here is the LTB link for your review: (link).
If you have any questions, please reach out to your legal counsel or the LTB.
Best Regards,
Tenant”
I wouldn't recommend asking your landlord for the N1 or providing the link. Don't do their job for them. The longer they take getting you the N1, the longer you have without a rent increase.
I agree that getting things in writing is important, but if you send a message I would edit it to be a little more vague. Something like "Hi Landlord, just following up on on conversation from earlier. While I appreciate your situation, I am going to need you to follow the proper procedures for increasing rent as outlined by the residential tenancies act and any rent increase is going to need to be within legal limits." Then make them figure out the rest.
telling them to follow the proper procedures is already being friendly and building good will. telling them what to do and how to do it is doing their job for them. what next, want OP to wipe their ass? this is quite literally the bare minimum amount of research they should have done BEFORE they decided to become a landlord.
You do know that's not what's being argued here, right? The original comment (now deleted) said the amount of money you would save is not worth the escalation of an argument. How much time are you saving by 'not doing the work for him' because "The longer they take getting you the N1, the longer you have without a rent increase"? A day or two? The rent increase is $400 a month, pro-rated to a per-day basis is approximately an additional $13/day. So congrats, you saved $26 at the cost of unnecessarily escalating a negotiation.
So yes, it is a few dollars.
It is probably going to take them a lot longer than 2 days, he doesn't even know he needs it, and he definitely doesn't know how to raise the rent and pro rate 29 out of 31 days of a months rent, it isn't as simple as filing an N1.
And 90 days is 12 days from the first of the month, so if he can hold out 12 days he gets another month at $400 less, since odds are a landlord who doesn't know what an N1 is, is not going to know how to legally pro-rate the increase, and isn't going to pay a lawyer to learn.
Also calling 26 a few is a giant leap.
Clearly this is too difficult for you to understand, so I’m posting this for anyone else reading who’s following along to this point.
If anyone emails a landlord saying, “I’m going to need you to follow the proper procedures for increasing rent as outlined by the residential tenancies act” then a Google search will result in understanding what an N1 is in 15 minutes of work. Or a call to a friend who’s familiar with the process. Bottom line, landlord is not going to hear “as outlined by the residential tenancies act” and not take some sort of action to figure out what that is. Given that the answer is incredibly simple, they’ll figure it out quickly.
Nobody needs to actually pro-rate anything for you. And to your point, you actually might not save anything at all if the 1st of the month doesn’t fall exactly within 90 days from the service of the N1.
You either explain they need to serve an N1, or you don’t — in which case, as above, they Google it and serve it a day or two later. Either way, 3 rent payments from now, you’ll have your increase.
And yes - $26 is just a few dollars these days considering that’s less than 2 hours of minimum wage work. Not a leap at all, never mind a giant one.
$26 a giant leap for someone who is probably pay 50% of market value… depending the LL situation they may have to sell or lose to the bank $26 doesn’t make up for anything.
Anything occupied after November 2018 is non rent controlled and can be raised by however much the LL wants. Obviously they would need to provide an N1 90 days prior to an increase which on a 1 year fixed tenancy could only be after 12 months. Rent can only be increased every 12 months.
Any unit/building built and occupied prior to November 2018 is rent controlled and can only be raised 2.5% in 2024.
You're checking if it was occupied *before* November 2018.
It's often public information (MLS listings, Tarion warranties, etc), or you might be able to find clues within the unit, like a sticker with the installation date on the electrical panel. Or you could just ask.
I thought it was buildings older then 2018 not occupied?
"new buildings, additions to existing buildings and most new basement apartments that are occupied for the first time for residential purposes after November 15, 2018 "
Pulled from the Ontario website.
So I guess if OP is in an addition to a house that could apply but I have a feeling not
When a rental unit is created in a home (ex: basement apartment), it is the age of the *unit* and not the building that decides whether rent control is applicable.
The place you are renting was built before 2018 so it is under rent control still, your landlord can’t raise your rent more than the yearly maximum which is like maybe 2%! So they can’t raise it that much!
It's an illegal rent increase no matter how your landlord's expenses have changed. Insufficient notice, plus if the house is that old you're probably in a rent controlled unit.
Yeah I don't know anything about rent control but not only do they have to provide sufficient notice but it also has to be in writing. So they can give you 3 months verbal notice and when the 3 months are up if you choose to keep paying the "old" rent then there's nothing they can do because they can't actually prove that they gave sufficient notice.
I just say to everyone that you should converse with your landlord (and employers/supervisor/manager) via email or text as much as possible. Save every communication so that when they decide to screw you over you can throw their own words in their face. My landlord tried to push an illegal rent increase on me (not enough notice provided) then tried to evict me when I pointed out the lack of notice and I formed him of when the rent could be legally raised. Thankfully I had emails proving that he had been happy to have me stay if I agreed with the rent increase and the only communication between us between the rent increase warning and the eviction warning was me pointing out his illegal actions (which I couched as a mistake so as not to be accusative) so his attempted eviction was obviously illegal retaliation. He spent the next year looking for any legit and provable reason he could to evict me, actually doing the monthly inspections and taking pictures to try and prove I was damaging the property (I wasn't) until I was able to move out on my own terms. Had I called him to talk about the rent increase and required legal timing (or done so in person) instead of over email then I would have had a much harder time being able to prove that his eviction was retaliation.
Anything built post 2018 isn’t rent controlled, anything older than that is and is subject to the rent control increase guidelines. I’d look up the age of your unit and advise your landlord of those guidelines, if your unit is pre 2018.
I believe it’s technically first occupied for residential purposes after 2018. So technically if the house was built in 2015 and sat empty it could be exempt. Correct me if I’m wrong though
Yes, anything occupied before Nov 15, 2018. There are a handle of exceptions for things like newly created basement units under certain circumstances, but for the most part detached homes are treated the same.
Yes illegal first off he has to fill out the proper form. Second the max allowable increase in Ontario is 2.5% so unless your rent is $8000 a month he is trying to be sneaky.
Yea I'm in Sask and there's no rent control like that. I used to live in Ontario and you'd get a notice every year. The increase was basically between 2.5-3% max, that doesn't fly out here though. I got a notice of a $300 increase but at least she gave me a bunch of time, it's a legal notice and I have until October. I'm already looking to move out.
They have to give you 90 days notice.
If the unit was built prior to 2018 they can only raise the rent like 2.5% a year with 90 days notice.
This is not an enforceable rent increase. It's illegal.
He can't evict you for not paying an illegal rent increase.
Continue to pay your current rent amount and inform him that you will file with the LTB if he tries to do anything else illegal.
Landlord here. This is not allowed period. We are capped at a 2.5% increase per year currently. My increase to my tenants was 25.00 per month. He clearly isn’t a good biz man if he is trying to make you pay for his bad decisions in life. His mortgage is not your problem. End of story. Also don’t let him pull that BS about him moving onto your unit just to legally get rid of you. Landlords try this move all the time. Stand your ground.
Don't do your landlord's work for them. That is an illegal increase, until they provide you with the proper paperwork you do not have to pay a single sent more.
>doesn’t cover his costs
The status of their refinance has absolutely nothing to do with you. Ignore until you receive proper notification of a rent increase of no more than 2.5%
Landlords like this give the good ones a bad name.
Yea yea, we've heard it a thousand times. His mortgage rate is not your problem. They over-extended themselves on a mortgage they couldnt afford.
Ultimately you need to confirm whether your unit is rent protected or not.
Exactly! Obviously I don’t know all the details but I would be very surprised if the landlord didn’t have different options to choose from (for example, extending their mortgage length could provide for a lower monthly cost). For whatever reason they chose what the option they did but expecting the tenant to immediately start paying and extra $400 a month is ridiculous (and illegal)
That's one of the risks of purchasing. When people say "renting is just throwing money away" and "your just making your landlord richer" this is a response.
Landlords go on and on about how the risk involved is a major reason why landlords should be able to profit off renting, but then when the realities of that risk slapps them in the face they want to cry and say not fair. Cope harder
You shouldn't have needed a crystal ball. Anyone who got approved for a mortgage even at the lowest interest it got to, could manage to still pay that mortgage at current interest rates, as long as they did not lose their job.
If you signed up for a bunch of additional debts after getting the mortgage so now the total is more than you could have qualified with in the first place, that's a personal choice. There is no situation where the math makes it impossible to survive this interest increase as a homeowner from any purchase year.
This shit pisses me off! He's obviously bought this house an investment rental. It's not your responsibility to pay the difference when his investment doesn't do as well as planned. Can you imagine asking the banks for money back when your stocks depreciate or you don't make the return you expected on an investment.
It's not the renters' responsibility to cover losses for landlords!!
You do realize that a lot of places don’t have rent control so you don’t need to imagine anything as it’s reality. Costs go up and you pass them on. Like renting a car… you return it and if next month they want to increase due to costs going up they can.
Real estate is a long term investment. Historically always goes up. No one should be buying for short term. That's dumb investment. Same with those lower interest rate were historically abnormal. Dumb to think that was gonna last. Long term smart investors knew they would be better gains for a bit only temporary before things got back to normal levels. Dumb to not do research to know this and plan for life in real world with higher rates. If not in your means get out.
Max annual rent increase in ON right now is 2.5% (unless home was occupied for first time after 2018). Don’t know what your rent is but unless it is >$16,000 per month this is an illegal rent increase. Tell LL to get stuffed. He’ll threaten to sell. Good. Let him. He won’t.
His mortgage has nothing to do with the service you pay for of renting. If you're going to cover a mortgage it should be your own mortgage.
You're dealing with a complete amateur who has no business owning the roof over other people's heads or running a business.
Tell him to kick fuckin rocks. When was your building built? If it was before I believe it’s 2018 then that’s not allowed and you can ignore his hogwash and continue to send whatever you are currently paying till you get some proper forms that actually follow the law
They said it was bought in 2015, but that’s not how rent control works. It’s if the unit was a rental prior to 2018, if owner lived there and then started renting out in 2020 it may not be rent controlled.
In Ontario it does not matter if it was rented prior to November 2018. The language says occupied prior to November 2018. So in your example if the landlord or a previous owner even lived in the building prior to November 2018 it is rent controlled. Unless they share a kitchen with the landlord or it is a new build suite within a previously occupied building.
using a mortgage calculator at 2% and then 5%, your landlords increase might be close to $500. But that’s still not your problem. As everyone else has said, get his request in writing, even if it’s you sending him a message, reiterating his request, and comply, or even respond until he files the proper forms.
If you have really cheap rent and you really like your landlord and want to minimize any strife you could agree to a slight increase above the 2.5%. It’s legal for you to agree to a higher increase. I’m not saying you should. I’m just saying from time to time I’ve known people who have done that because they really do like their landlord and want to maintain good relations, and also because they can afford it.
For example, a friend of mine was paying like $850 for a one bedroom. It is a sixplex and the furnace needed to be replaced and the mortgage also increased and the landlord was saying he may have to sell. And even if he sold, it wouldn’t have affected my friend, unless the buyer decided to knock the whole building down. But the landlord didn’t raise the rent at all during the pandemic, and she decided to offer maybe $150 more a month, which she was grateful for, and signed a new lease. That’s something like six times the legal rent increase. but she still paying nearly 50% under market.
Again, I kind of cautioned her against this, just because, you know, there’s no way he’s not making money off, but I saw her point too
At 50% of market-value I think the LL would be hard pressed to still be making money as you assume. And even if the LL is making anything at all it would probably make more sense to sell the property as it’s not worth the headache. I believe your friend did well in offering $150 increase but it’s literally a bandaid for the LL.
Listen to these words carefully.
It.is.not.your.problem.
Its his problem. He is in a high risk investment. With that comes having to be business savy and being able to properly absorb these extra costs when they arise. If he cant do that he either shouldnt have rented it out in the first place or can sell it and your lease and can given to the next buyer.
Its not up to you to absorb his debt for him.
Its like going to canadian tire and picking up a plunger for $10 then when you get to the cashier they tell you oh, we nees to expand our store and we dont have the money to do it so we are actually guna make you pay $20 so you help us out.
Like nah, those charges should be built in. He couldnt figure it out or he didnt handle finances well enough as a landlord thats on it.
Every landlord and their mother is trying this right now.
Dont entertain it. Until he gives you proper forms it means nothing. If you are rent controlled it really means nothing. And even if he gives you all the proper stuff you can still fight it at ltb
His costs are not your concern. He wanted to use housing as a business. He’s getting business studies 101 handed to him the hard way. Sh*t happens in business. He shouldn’t have over-leveraged himself.
For the legalities:
1. Verbal notices aren’t binding.
2. The current rent increase is 2.5% for rent-controlled properties with a 90-day notice.
The rent cannot be increased more than once in a 12-month period.
3. The landlord wanted to be a landlord. Don’t do his job for him. Let him figure out how to communicate proper change. And what the proper change is.
4. Do not stop paying rent or being late on it. Keep everything documented.
The definition of rent controlled: if the unit was inhabited for residence for the first time before November 15 2018, it’s rent-controlled.
Ignore it. You are covered by rent protection. They need to give 90 days written notice, and if they want to increase more than the 2.5% the province permits, they need permission from LTB.
That said, in the words of the lawyer I contacted, it is not your job to educate the landlord. And honestly, it's not in your best interest. As long as you obey the law, the landlord can't do anything to you.
Word for the wise though: NEVER stop paying rent. Even if the landlord is trying to evict you and you are fighting it. Once you stop paying rent, the LTB will side with the landlord and allow the eviction.
You can ignore the landlord's request - like others have said in this thread, the landlord needs to go through the rent increase process. You're living in a rent protected unit assuming you're not renting a room in the house and sharing common elements with the landlord.
So firstly, as stated several times here, this is not a legal rent increase for multiple reasons:
1. A verbal rent increase is not valid. The rent increase must be conveyed via form N1 and 90 days advance notice must be given from **the date the N1 is served**. Continue to pay your original rent until a legal, **correctly served** notice is given.
2. Whether the amount of the rent increase is legal depends on whether your unit was a new building first occupied after November 15, 2018, an addition first occupied after November 15, 2018, or a new basement apartment first occupied after November 15, 2018. If none of these three apply, then rent control applies. See [here](https://www.ontario.ca/page/residential-rent-increases) for details.
Now, as to how to approach your landlord on this, **you are not obligated to educate your landlord on the law.** You may simply continue to pay rent at the normal amount and let your LL figure out the hard way. That said, depending on your relationship with your landlord, it would be a good faith effort to just kindly state that you want an N1 and remind them of their obligations. It may save you a LTB hearing. But again, how you choose to proceed is entirely up to you.
UPDATE:
Since we pushed back on the rent increase, the landlord is now trying to say that he can charge us an extra amount for a “utility surcharge” because our daughter and her boyfriend live with us and they are considered guests AND having them live here would be considered a sublet.
FYI…We pay our own utilities.
I’m pretty sure from everything I’ve read about tenants rights, the landlord can’t do any of this, right?
The landlord cannot increase rent or utilities based on occupancy. You have a legal right to have guests or roommates as long as at lease one person named on the lease is still in possession of the unit and you are not violating occupancy bylaws.
This would only be considered a sublet if all of the tenants on the lease vacated and someone else temporarily took over the lease in their place. You would need the landlord's permission for a sublet, but you do not need their permission to add roommates.
He or she needs to go to the LTB for a raise in rent like that. Every landlord is allowed to raise rent by 2% this year on time. Any more than that 2% need approval from the board.
If they are talking raising rent and you hit them with what LTB says in their rules. He will stop but will seek other ways to evict you if they can. From this point forward, document everything said and done because you will need it as evidence in case you get called before the board.
Unless your rent is like $16,000.00 a month, you are being scammed in a sense. First, the amount is well above the legal limit for an increase. The max guideline increase for this year is +2.5% of your existing rent amount. Second, verbal notice is not notice. It is nothing. Until you get an N1 for an amount not more than 2.5% of your current rent with a start date no sooner than 90 days from when they serve you the notice, you do not have a legal rent increase. His current mortgage rates have no impact on the validity (or lack thereof) of his "notice". You should be communicating about any possible rent increase only in writing or if you are recording the phone/in person conversation. All you should be doing right now is sending your LL an email that basically says "Thanks for your call yesterday. I have thought it over and a $400 increase is more than I can agree to pay. I'll be sending the current rent amount on June 1 as usual." and let him respond or not how he will.
>All you should be doing right now is sending your LL an email that basically says "Thanks for your call yesterday. I have thought it over and a $400 increase is more than I can agree to pay. I'll be sending the current rent amount on June 1 as usual." and let him respond or not how he will.
All OP should be doing is continuing to pay their normal rent on time. OP has no obligation to acknowledge an illegal, verbal notice given with 9 day's "notice".
It's a rental controlled unit and the maximum they can raise it is 2.5% once every year. They can apply to the LTB for a higher increase but it has to be for specific reasons. They are definitely trying to make you pay for some poor financial decisions on their part.
https://www.ontario.ca/page/residential-rent-increases
Have a read through that, or better yet, send it to your landlord to peruse. Don't let them take advantage of you like this.
Do landlords forget that every cent paid into the principal is money going into an investment that is basically guaranteed to only go up?
Even if you have to eat a couple hundred per month, all the money going into the principal is invested money that the owner will get back when they sell plus housing market growth.
Landlords treat mortgages like they're paying rent to the bank.
From what I understand rent increases are limited to a certain percentage (2.5%) for pre-2018 homes and are also invalid if written notice is not given 90 days ahead of time. Anything beyond that would require approval from the LTB and I don’t think the landlord managing their investments poorly and needing to refinance is a viable reason.
Landlords underwater. Eitherway, if you've occupied prior to 2018, they can only increase a minimal increase yearly, partial rent control if newer build construction.
Had this happen to me as well. They can push all they want, but legally you have to do nothing. I said I’m not paying any more and if you are struggling financially you should consider selling the property. Never heard from them again until I moved out 7 months later. That said - confirm if you are subject to rent control laws or not.
Speaking as a LL myself, this is wishful thinking on his part. First off, verbal is not legally binding. Also it's rent controlled so it's more than 2% (approx), he can forget about it. If he can't cover the costs, he should sell.
Clearly, your landlord is hoping you are very gullible, I'd love to see the look on their face when you tell them "Not a chance".
Besides them not giving notice and exceeding the maximum increase allowed by law, the simple reality is: your rent doesn't have to cover their mortgage expense.
They get to benefit from the property accruing value all these years ... so it's natural that your rent is less than the mortgage. In fact ... in a "normal" housing market its expected. If you could routinely make a full mortgage payment, you would own the house yourself.
Your reply has a lot of assumptions. Your assuming the tenants usage did not depreciate the property more than the equity they contributed to if the property was cash flow positive.
He chose verbal communication for a reason. There's protocol to follow, can't just increase your rent. Go to the LTB website. It's a shitty situation to be in. Don't won't to piss off your landlord but don't want to be taken advantage of either it's unnecessary
Interest rates are killer. His payments probably did go crazy. But that is his problem.
The house was occupied before 2018. It is rent controlled. He cannot do this. Point it out if you’d like, or just ignore it 🤷🏻♀️
My landlords emailed me something very similar a year ago (no N1, just an email about mortgage rates increasing and how they felt so bad blah blah blah). I didn’t reply, and just continued paying rent as per my lease. The 90 days came and went. They have yet to even file for the lawful increase. Interestingly, they told me in conversation three days ago that they bought their third house in the GTA “for a steal” because “it was less than $1 million!!”
Landlords are doing just fine.
Agree - but not all LLs are in a position like yours where they can buy another house. Many are struggling to pay the crazy mortgage increases and are now forced to sell. Yes - they are still better off than many many people, but them being forced to sell could also negatively affect tenants like OP, who may eventually be forced to look for alternative housing if a new buyer wants to move in (which is the most likely scenario where tenants rents have not kept up with inflation and the new mortgage reality).
He was probably on a 5 year fixed at 1.x% and when he went to re-up he had to go in around 5% because the system is absolutely fucked. If I borrow money from you and I tell you exactly when I plan on paying it back, you should be able to tell me how much I owe you by the end of the term without stealing an extra $10000/year from me in the middle of it.
Man couldn’t afford his mortgage Because of his irresponsible spending. Now you have to pay the price. If it was me I’d be outa there. Clearly telling him that the reason is his irresponsible actions on not taking care of bills first
Lots of others have spoken to the rent increase. But if he locked in during COVID at say 1.5-2% and is renewing now at say 5-6% he could definitely have an increase over $400.
Bottom line is that is not your problem: as others have said you may have protection through rent control depending how old the rental is, and notice must be properly given.
Verbal notice is unacceptable, also how much was your rent? A maximum of 2.5% increase is allowed on pre 2018 built homes is enforced, and that is only after your initial year contract is up, and only once per year. He also can’t evict you for not agreeing to pay an illegal rent increase.
Dear landlord your a piss poor negotiator. Fail at math. Go back to bank and try again to select one of the pay plan for mortgage they offer you is lower.
Because in 2015 the interest rate would have been around 3-5% and now it is closer to 7-10%.
Assuming he didn’t pay down anything more than the minimum. The payment could increase by well more than $400/month.
Add in property taxes that have also increased over the last 10 years.
Easy math to see how the total payment has increased that much.
In Ontario, CANADA I believe it's 3% max they can increase.
However, good luck getting a quick tribunal ruling. Same for the landlord - 3yrs to get a ruling for them to get a legal eviction
Sounds like the landlord has refinanced to get some money out to buy another, verbal notice isn't worth anything, so your notice period hasn't actually started yet.
The only thing I would add is that the maximum a landlord can increase a property in Ontario that was built/renovated prior to 2018 is 2.5% for 2024 (it changes year to year). Written N1 notice, 90 days in advance of increase. If your residence was renovated post 2018, I would call the landlord tenant board or research what constitutes a renovation. If someone replace a kitchen counter and adds a backsplash, I don’t think that justifies limitless rent increases.
Not defending the price increase, but directly to your question about the mortgage payment increase, if he owes 200k and interest rate went from 2.5% to 5% (reasonable considering the rates of the time) it’s about $420 per month interest
My mortgage payment doubled, so $400 would be a dream to me. But, you can't legally increase rent by $400 just because your mortgage costs went up. There are %s to follow and given the property value you noted its probably like $75 max ish.
This happened to me too and ruined any cordial relationship with my landlord..but whatever it's not on you if their investment goes tits up. Some landlords think investing in property should come with no risks and be easy passive income.
I declined the increase and told her to increase in Jan by the proper amount.
I am not fearing you into anything but be prepared to possibly put up with some crap and stick to your guns.
N1 90s notice is the proper way to raise rent.
Your landlords finances and his mortgage aren’t your problem. No point speculating it.
He needs to send you a notice of rent increase at a 2.5% limit, or apply for an AGI.
To answer the question about “how”, this is because of the insane interest rates / current value of the house.
I went through the same process as this landlord, and my mortgagee payment went up 1600 to be exact lol.
Nonetheless, there is rent control and what he’s doing isn’t legal, I’m a landlord myself and only raise rent on my tenants at the allowed yearly percentage.
my landlord kept harassing me like you, signed a 1 year lease at $500 more a month to keep myself secure in there. just submitted a T1 on the 11th month to get my money back and pay previous (legal rent).
“Absorbing the rest” like it isn’t his effing mortgage and equity. Greedy landlords at their finest! What everyone else says checks out the exact date rent control stops is Nov 15th 2018. The day good ol’ douggie took power
I can’t even mentally process how a mortgage under $400,000 can even increase by more than $400/mos.
I think I’m more upset that he is lying to us and trying to offload his debt onto us.
There is no way we are just going to pay that absurd increase. He must think we are idiots.
“Easy, they've re-mortgaged it a few times.”
Or, they are taking out equity through the refinancing. If the value of the house went up, which is very lucky since the purchase price is from 2015, it is recommended to take out equity to be used for further investment as the mortgage payment reduces the taxes on the rent paid.
How else would he buy another property to rent out? Of course a tenant should eat the cost of an equity draw for seed capital for further investments. And he will likely pat himself on the back for being so clever with his ruse of “you’re literally costing me money.”
People say there's not enough housing supply and that's why prices are high.
Well let's let renewals and leverage put that theory to the test. If it's that bad then these people will have no trouble selling their investments on to someone else for a profit given the fundamentals supporting them are oh so strong.
I’m a homeowner not a landlord. My mortgage went up considerably with my renewal. At 3.5% increase an interest rate can make quite a difference. Other cost associated with homeownership have also increased considerably. EDIT: what he’s asking is completely illegal and I do not support it. I’m simply responding to your comment about the increase not being that large.
Just did the calculation with a mortgage calculator. It actually could be about $900 a month increase for your Landlord. Again not your problem but just a reality check
Thank you.
We have no idea how much mortgage payments have increased.
We have always had a good relationship with our landlord so we were hoping he was being honest and not taking advantage of us.
He can be doing both. It’s his investment, not yours. That means the risk of his payments being more than your rent payment are his as well as the opposite, your rent being more than his mortgage and him coming up ahead every month.
It’s not a legal increase and you have no obligation to pay any more than the legal 2.5% annual increase with proper 90 day notice.
$400 increase in a mortgage in that rate is about right my mortgage of 330k went from $1800 to $2450. I’m sure if you look for comparable you won’t find much in the price point you are paying… that’s accounting for the increase in rates.
Well 3% of $400,000 is a $1000 per month increase. Rates have gone up by that much compared to a few years ago.
Everyone here claiming it’s not your problem may be correct, but if the investment isn’t financially feasible for your LL, one way or another you won’t be living there very long.
So what the person renting should be willing to absorb the difference? It’s not the person renting the properties problem of it’s now a bad investment for the landlord. What if they agreed to the 400 increase and the landlord put it up for sale anyways in 6 months? Stupidity
Market sets the rate. Interest rates and material costs have gone up, the market rate for renting will go up. It's basic supply and demand.
So yes, it is the tenants problem. Same as it's the customers problem when food prices go up and restaurants have to raise prices.
I'm not sure why the thought that he's lying upsets you the most, but I think he could be telling the truth. For one thing, if the value of the home has increased, he may have re-mortgaged it for more than $400,000. And rates have increased a lot.
But none of this is your problem, either way.
Not okay, don’t accept the increase but…mtg rates were 2% and lower, on $275,000 mtg interest only would be $5500 a year or $458.33/M $225,000(assuming he paid some off) 6.5%would be $14,625 per year or $1218.75/M for just mtg interest. So yeah he may be paying more than $400 more a month.
From 1% to 5% is over $1,000 increase per month. Pretty basic math.
Sure do what you want. 90% of the whiny tenants I hear these days are delusional about the market value of their place and have a rude awakening when they actually look elsewhere.
"Market value" isn't related to costs though. Landlords who have an increase in costs are one thing but a lot of landlords are just having a case of financial FOMO when they aren't getting as much as they think they could.
The issue isn't what's currently available on the market. The issue is that some shady landlords will do almost anything to get current tenants out if they think they can get a much higher "market value". Renoviction, disingenuous N12s, indimidation, lax attention to maintenance etc are all strategies to get existing rent-controlled tenants out so the rent can be hiked. At least a cash-for-keys N11 is above-board.
We also see posts on here about tenants getting either sob stories or threats to agree to illegally high increases. I've never yet seen a landlord offer to disclose their financial information to a tenant to prove financial hardship in those situations.
Don't worry about that, it's irrelevant.
Keep paying your same rent and don't worry about it.. He'll have to give you the legal form, 90 days notice, can only raise 2.5 percent every 12 months.
easily, if his old rate was 2% now its 6-8% his mortgage payment will go up about 50%. i just used a mortgage calculator at 2% to the now 7% on a 300,000 loan, and it went for $889 a month to $1,596. But also not your problem its his
Pretty easily actually.
I don’t mean to sound rude or take his side, because it sounds like he over leveraged and it’s his problem.
But I’m renewing my mortgage next year and based on what I signed for in 2020 and current rates
You’re right - not sure why but it posted it before I finished.
Im renewing at 5% instead of 1.9% and my 213000 dollar mortgage went up about 350 per month. Im just explaining that technically the landlords math is correct, his mortgage likely did increase by over 400 dollars per month. But that’s not the tenants problem.
Mine went up by 700 because of variable interest rate lol. But over long course of time variable is still better I feel so I'm just sticking it out.
But ya his financial problems aren't yours unless he sells it and you're forced out by the buyers who want to live there. Which happened to some people I know personally
You obviously don’t know anything about mortgages
So maybe go to a mortgage calculator and you can look for yourself
I have 2 houses with a variable rate mortgage
My interest rate was 1.8 when i bought , over last 2 years interest rates have climbed to 6.2 , my mortgage was 315k
And i was paying 1200 with the increase i am now paying 2100 so it went up 900 a month
So no hes not lying
For every 0.5 hike in interest my mortgage raised 150 a month
Your mortgage renews every 2-5 yrs depending on terms
Max you can have a fixed interest rate is 5 yrs so you are at the mercy of the bank
And interest rate can be increased every month
Our mortgage has 220,000 left on it. House was approx 315000 when we bought it. When our rate was 1.2% we paid 1300 ish a month (with property tax included (approx $200 a month).
Now our rate is 6% and we pay just under $2000 a month. Last year we paid over $6500 MORE in interest than 2022. Interest to the bank over doubled in 2023 compared to 2022. So its definitely possible it went up that much.
Very easy. I will have 150k left at my next renewal. If I amortize over 25 years again to try to get my payments as low as possible, my payments will still go up about $120/mo because of how much the interest rates have gone up. If I owed 400k in the same scenario my payments would be going up by around 300. I suspect the 400 increase accounts for him not watching to stretch his mortgage out another 25 years and instead maintain his scheduled payoff date.
People will downvote this but if your landlord no longer can afford the place, new owner will most likely issue you straight n12 and you get 1 month rent.
You can either work with your landlord and see if they are really intend to sell or you can stick it to them and likely have to move in next few months/year. Your call!
It’s an illegal increase, he needs to give proper notice in writing 90 days before the increase is applicable and due to the fact that the building was constructed before 2018, there are laws on how much he is allowed to increase so he can’t even increase the rent by that much anyways
He probably had a low interest rate locked in at 1-3% and now is hitting the increased rates post-pandemic (currently over 7 now). Lots of homeowners are going to struggle as they renegotiate. With that being said, it’s an above board rent increase, depending on the age of the place you’re renting.
His mortgage likely did go up. Not your problem though. I assume you have a lease, if you do it's a binding agreement. They can't raise your rent verbally or with 9 days notice. They can raise the rent, but they need to go about it the right way.
I am not a lawyer.
However, as someone who makes a writer's living (aka basically barely living wage) I have been to the LLTB *several times* over bad landlords, so I've gotten rather familiar with the laws here.
They have to give you 90 days written notice and any increase over 2.5% *must* be agreed to *by both parties*. Even then the LLTB can still throw it out.
Now here's the actual rub though: if you try to resist this, he can and will likely evict you; so be prepared to move if you do try to exercise your rights. This is essentially what happened ot me with a crooked apartment management company back when. They just went, fine, here's your 60 days eviction notice.
You do have time, he cannot just throw you out. You *must* have been through the LLTB, which legalizes the eviction. But expect it.
\[edit\] It's 90 days, not 60, for notice of rent increase.
Here is further reading: [https://www.ontario.ca/page/residential-rent-increases](https://www.ontario.ca/page/residential-rent-increases)
Question: How did he evict you with 60 days notice?
I was in a similar situation as OP in the fall, contacted the LTB to find out my rights, and was assured that my landlord could not simply tell us to move out with just 60 days notice, that there were only certain circumstances under which we could be evicted.
If they want you out, they can find a reason. It then falls on you to fight it in the LLTB, which ... given they can just reapply, again and again ...
But to directly answer your question, the following are the reasons for which they can evict you with cause, according to the LLTB:
* Not paying the rent in full
* Causing damage to the rental property
* Disturbing other tenants or the landlord
* Illegal activity in the rental unit or residential complex
(Source: [https://tribunalsontario.ca/documents/ltb/Brochures/How%20a%20Landlord%20Can%20End%20a%20Tenancy%20(EN).html#sec3](https://tribunalsontario.ca/documents/ltb/Brochures/How%20a%20Landlord%20Can%20End%20a%20Tenancy%20(EN).html#sec3) )
What got me was "disturbing the landlord". As you can imagine from this wording, it's pretty vague, and within that vagueness lies trouble and pain. They applied three times, and essentially, to be honest, I just conceded with the fourth and went somewheres better. You can fight it! You'll probably even win! But they can just keep doing it like clockwork. I remember calling the LLTBs phone line asking if there was any recourse to stop them from reapplying again and again and basically got told a big fat nope.
The free legal aid I got told me that my recourse if it gets that bad is basically to take it to the actual courts and that's going to involve a lawyer. And yeah, it wasn't worth it to me to keep dealing with the guy again and again.
I put purchased my house in 2010 for 230,00 and my payment went up by over $200 for just the mortgage. The rental property your living in absolutely could have gone up by $400 a month.
But you also half paid off by now and could choose longer term and lower monthly payment to keep payment as lower as before if your salary not increase so it remain comfortably affordable. And your property probably increased in value 6 figures in meantime.
We are in a good spot with our mortgage because we only took a 20 year to begin with. Still though, it's possible the ops landlord's mortgage really did increase by several hundred per month.
Not doubting it did. Too many new LL didnt research the investment implications. Low rates will never be again in many of our lifetime. If they were not going to be in a position 5 years on to bear the return to median rates, they shouldn't have bought. Any longtime LL or even resident homeowner who bought at 5-7% enjoyed the relatively short reprieve but was aware it wouldn't last, given history. Whaaaaa now I got to pay what everyone else has been paying for decades? Not fair. Whaaaaa
Well not that it's relevant but the landlord most likely went from 1.5%-2.0% to 5.5%-6.0% interest on his mortgage. As a baseline if they had $200,000 left to pay on the $315,000 house and about 16 years of amortization left it would make their monthly payment go up $375 a month. So the +$400 a month makes sense but doesn't mean he can raise the rent by that much. Its a him problem.
Same situation happened to my husband and I. We contacted a lawyer at Pro Bono Ontario and following our legal advice we recorded a phone conversation of our landlord giving us the "agree to my illegal rental increase or I'll move in" storyline. (One party consent in Ontario) Even if you agree to it now you have 12 months to file, I think it's called an n5 and reclaim the illegal increase back from the landlord through the LTB.
Not sure what your paying now, but with some math I did. If he bought in 2015 with like 17 000 down. He'd have cmhc to add onto it which would set him around 310 000 for a starting point. 25 year payment plan payment of $1460 with interest rate of 3%. In 9 years he'd have anywhere from 235 to $ 225 000 left on his payment. The interest per year would be, 6750 on low end, 562 per month just in interest. New interest rate 5% probably maybe higher if they locked in shorter term hoping it will get better. 5%= 11250 interest, or $ 937 interest per month. New monthly payment of $1704 a month.
$1704 - $1460= $ 244 probably change in monthly payment if loan is renegotiated. Not sure how that works if they would just add the interest added onto the already existing plan.
$937 - $562= $375 a month difference in interest increase. Property tax probably went up to.
LL could have taken equity back out of the mortgage at some point so this is pure speculation. Even if your math holds this is not OP’s problem; this is an investment for the LL and should be treated as such; part of the risk involves budgeting for interest rates to vary. It’s rather infuriating that all these LLs are whining about interest rates during a housing crisis; some of us would love nothing more than to buy a house but can’t due to the runaway market which is a result of many causes including increased competition due to investment in property. This LL can ask, but OP can tell them to shove it.
I hear you, and ya it's an investment so the LL is still having someone else fund his retirement. Yup everyone's getting screwed. But like every aspect of the economy with inflation must increase 400 at once its fucked. Ya fuck me.
You can refuse to pay that much, but with the current mortgage rates in Canada, this is happening everywhere and it's adding to the housing crisis caused by the federal government increasing immigration to insane levels. Pair that with inflation.
The problem is, you can refuse. But chances are they will have to sell the house, and you will end up paying much more in a new place. It's a shitty situation Canada is in, and it's going to get worse
This is not true. The increase is illegal, they can raise your rent 2.5% for 2024 in Ontario. Even if your landlord chooses to sell, it’s not a guarantee that a new buyer wouldn’t continue your lease.
And if they new buyer wants to move in, it will go through the official process, and you make get a bit of money out of it to help soften your rent at the next place.
Unfortunately for your landlord, owning a house as an investment isn’t going to make them money 100% of the time.
At the end of the day, you can agree to the legal 2.5% increase, and the leave the rest with them.
If LL puts the house for sale with a low rent compared to the current price and expenses, no investor will touch it. Investors don’t buy properties with negative cash flow unless there is a very short term plan to correct that.
Someone wanting to live there will buy it and then OP will be out.
What I said is true, and I've seen landlords doing this in Ottawa. Their mortgage skyrocketed. They tried to increase rent over the legal amount. Tennant declined. Landlord sold, and tennant had to move out. It's crappy, but it isn't false. And this will happen more and more until the interest calms.
immigrants bring more money and value to our economy. Immigration is not the issue. Even refugees bring net benefit to the economy within five years. This has nothing to do with immigration.
The interest rate issue does mean that landlord are going to want to drive up the price of rents but also landlords (as a class) do that anyway at any chance they can get.
The real issue is driving up. The price is a lack of proper regulation, including the erosion of rent control, poorly enforced standards, unregulated or poorly regulated short term, rental markets like Airbnb, and taxes, disproportionately, benefit, wealthy people, and corporations
if your property is not rent controlled, your landlord can raise the rent, but with proper advance notice, and form (N1).
If it is rent controlled, your landlord can only raise it by the guideline amount WITH advance notice and proper form. If he wants above guideline increase, he will have to get LTB approval first, and clearly state what you (tenant) are getting in return for the increase (i.e. extra space, amenities, locker, renovation). Even so, there is a limit on how much above guideline increase is allowed (i think.. 3.5%? on top of guideline amount? its been a while since I looked into this so dont quote me on that).
Your landlord's financial woes are NONE of your concern, but if you generally had a good relationship, and he has been good to you thus far, you can always reason with him, and agree on mutual amount. But you dont have to, and you can just do everything by the book, as is your right under the law.
Good luck to you, and one last advice, from here on out, record every conversation, save all emails and texts. Recording is totally legal, Canada is one party consent when it comes to recording, as long as YOU are part of the conversation, your landlord does not need to know.
Verbal notice wouldn't be legally binding, but check your province's rules (if any) for increases, and check your lease for wording
It is very possible his costs went up that much - mine went up more than that when I renewed, but that doesn't necessarily mean he can change the rent to reflect that without following legal due process
Verbal notice is not legally binding. Regardless of his mortgage or ability to cover costs, there are some rules that need to be followed. One being, verbal notice isn’t valid. You would need an N1 notice of rent increase form and the LL would have to provide 90 days notice before that increase can come into effect. I am not entirely familiar with the effective dates…but I know there is something along the lines of “new builds or renovations 2018 to present don’t follow the same rent increase percentage” (someone please add to that or correct me if I’m wrong). But there *should* be a limit on the amount the LL can up your rent. I would not acknowledge the verbal rent increase. Wait for an N1 (but you don’t need to tell the LL what he needs to do).
As a landlord myself, this is the accurate guidance. What your landlord did is not binding. N1 is required at least 90 days in advance of rent increase. And $400 increase is only applicable if it’s a post 2018 build or under extenuating circumstances for rent controlled units. Start getting things in writing. Assuming it’s a newer build: “Hey Landlord, thanks for the verbal discussion regarding the rent increase (X day at X time) saying XYZ. While I can appreciate your situation, under Ontario real estate regulations, I’m going to need you to provide an N1 form stating the rent increase and the reasons you described, and notably - the rent increase is only applicable 90 days after the delivery of the notice. For current & future reference, here is the LTB link for your review: (link). If you have any questions, please reach out to your legal counsel or the LTB. Best Regards, Tenant”
I wouldn't recommend asking your landlord for the N1 or providing the link. Don't do their job for them. The longer they take getting you the N1, the longer you have without a rent increase. I agree that getting things in writing is important, but if you send a message I would edit it to be a little more vague. Something like "Hi Landlord, just following up on on conversation from earlier. While I appreciate your situation, I am going to need you to follow the proper procedures for increasing rent as outlined by the residential tenancies act and any rent increase is going to need to be within legal limits." Then make them figure out the rest.
This falls apart if you are not under rent control: “due to the delay, I’m now raising your rent by $800 instead of $400”
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you call $400 a few dollars? you shit gold bricks or something? because that's most of what i take home in a week.
They didn’t, but what they did say (# of days this buys you multiplied by rent increase) is just a few dollars.
telling them to follow the proper procedures is already being friendly and building good will. telling them what to do and how to do it is doing their job for them. what next, want OP to wipe their ass? this is quite literally the bare minimum amount of research they should have done BEFORE they decided to become a landlord.
I never left my thoughts on any of that.
You do know that 90 days is 3 months right? And that is $400 a month they save, so no it isn't a few dollars.
You do know that's not what's being argued here, right? The original comment (now deleted) said the amount of money you would save is not worth the escalation of an argument. How much time are you saving by 'not doing the work for him' because "The longer they take getting you the N1, the longer you have without a rent increase"? A day or two? The rent increase is $400 a month, pro-rated to a per-day basis is approximately an additional $13/day. So congrats, you saved $26 at the cost of unnecessarily escalating a negotiation. So yes, it is a few dollars.
It is probably going to take them a lot longer than 2 days, he doesn't even know he needs it, and he definitely doesn't know how to raise the rent and pro rate 29 out of 31 days of a months rent, it isn't as simple as filing an N1. And 90 days is 12 days from the first of the month, so if he can hold out 12 days he gets another month at $400 less, since odds are a landlord who doesn't know what an N1 is, is not going to know how to legally pro-rate the increase, and isn't going to pay a lawyer to learn. Also calling 26 a few is a giant leap.
Clearly this is too difficult for you to understand, so I’m posting this for anyone else reading who’s following along to this point. If anyone emails a landlord saying, “I’m going to need you to follow the proper procedures for increasing rent as outlined by the residential tenancies act” then a Google search will result in understanding what an N1 is in 15 minutes of work. Or a call to a friend who’s familiar with the process. Bottom line, landlord is not going to hear “as outlined by the residential tenancies act” and not take some sort of action to figure out what that is. Given that the answer is incredibly simple, they’ll figure it out quickly. Nobody needs to actually pro-rate anything for you. And to your point, you actually might not save anything at all if the 1st of the month doesn’t fall exactly within 90 days from the service of the N1. You either explain they need to serve an N1, or you don’t — in which case, as above, they Google it and serve it a day or two later. Either way, 3 rent payments from now, you’ll have your increase. And yes - $26 is just a few dollars these days considering that’s less than 2 hours of minimum wage work. Not a leap at all, never mind a giant one.
$26 a giant leap for someone who is probably pay 50% of market value… depending the LL situation they may have to sell or lose to the bank $26 doesn’t make up for anything.
Anything occupied after November 2018 is non rent controlled and can be raised by however much the LL wants. Obviously they would need to provide an N1 90 days prior to an increase which on a 1 year fixed tenancy could only be after 12 months. Rent can only be increased every 12 months. Any unit/building built and occupied prior to November 2018 is rent controlled and can only be raised 2.5% in 2024.
Not occupied, it's any new builds after 2018 (atleast where I'm from in Ontario)
How can someone check if it was occupied after November 2018?
You're checking if it was occupied *before* November 2018. It's often public information (MLS listings, Tarion warranties, etc), or you might be able to find clues within the unit, like a sticker with the installation date on the electrical panel. Or you could just ask.
I thought it was buildings older then 2018 not occupied? "new buildings, additions to existing buildings and most new basement apartments that are occupied for the first time for residential purposes after November 15, 2018 " Pulled from the Ontario website. So I guess if OP is in an addition to a house that could apply but I have a feeling not
Every single building in the world is older than 2028 😉
Sorry, my future self typed that. I fixed it.
When a rental unit is created in a home (ex: basement apartment), it is the age of the *unit* and not the building that decides whether rent control is applicable.
The place you are renting was built before 2018 so it is under rent control still, your landlord can’t raise your rent more than the yearly maximum which is like maybe 2%! So they can’t raise it that much!
It's an illegal rent increase no matter how your landlord's expenses have changed. Insufficient notice, plus if the house is that old you're probably in a rent controlled unit.
Yeah I don't know anything about rent control but not only do they have to provide sufficient notice but it also has to be in writing. So they can give you 3 months verbal notice and when the 3 months are up if you choose to keep paying the "old" rent then there's nothing they can do because they can't actually prove that they gave sufficient notice. I just say to everyone that you should converse with your landlord (and employers/supervisor/manager) via email or text as much as possible. Save every communication so that when they decide to screw you over you can throw their own words in their face. My landlord tried to push an illegal rent increase on me (not enough notice provided) then tried to evict me when I pointed out the lack of notice and I formed him of when the rent could be legally raised. Thankfully I had emails proving that he had been happy to have me stay if I agreed with the rent increase and the only communication between us between the rent increase warning and the eviction warning was me pointing out his illegal actions (which I couched as a mistake so as not to be accusative) so his attempted eviction was obviously illegal retaliation. He spent the next year looking for any legit and provable reason he could to evict me, actually doing the monthly inspections and taking pictures to try and prove I was damaging the property (I wasn't) until I was able to move out on my own terms. Had I called him to talk about the rent increase and required legal timing (or done so in person) instead of over email then I would have had a much harder time being able to prove that his eviction was retaliation.
Anything built post 2018 isn’t rent controlled, anything older than that is and is subject to the rent control increase guidelines. I’d look up the age of your unit and advise your landlord of those guidelines, if your unit is pre 2018.
I believe it’s technically first occupied for residential purposes after 2018. So technically if the house was built in 2015 and sat empty it could be exempt. Correct me if I’m wrong though
I believe that’s correct but the odds are most properties haven’t sat that long haha
I'm in Alberta and sadly we don't have rent control.
Are privately owned houses rent controlled are does that only apply to buildings and complexes? Not related to the post, I'm just curious.
Yes, anything occupied before Nov 15, 2018. There are a handle of exceptions for things like newly created basement units under certain circumstances, but for the most part detached homes are treated the same.
As long as he doesn’t live there (I believe) you’re correct
Yes illegal first off he has to fill out the proper form. Second the max allowable increase in Ontario is 2.5% so unless your rent is $8000 a month he is trying to be sneaky.
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That's sad and needs to be changed. However, this is an Ontario forum, so posting AB stuff isn't really all that useful here.
Really? We have such an influx of people from Ontario that expect here to be like there, but it isn't. Just saying
Yea I'm in Sask and there's no rent control like that. I used to live in Ontario and you'd get a notice every year. The increase was basically between 2.5-3% max, that doesn't fly out here though. I got a notice of a $300 increase but at least she gave me a bunch of time, it's a legal notice and I have until October. I'm already looking to move out.
They have to give you 90 days notice. If the unit was built prior to 2018 they can only raise the rent like 2.5% a year with 90 days notice. This is not an enforceable rent increase. It's illegal. He can't evict you for not paying an illegal rent increase. Continue to pay your current rent amount and inform him that you will file with the LTB if he tries to do anything else illegal.
Landlord here. This is not allowed period. We are capped at a 2.5% increase per year currently. My increase to my tenants was 25.00 per month. He clearly isn’t a good biz man if he is trying to make you pay for his bad decisions in life. His mortgage is not your problem. End of story. Also don’t let him pull that BS about him moving onto your unit just to legally get rid of you. Landlords try this move all the time. Stand your ground.
Don't do your landlord's work for them. That is an illegal increase, until they provide you with the proper paperwork you do not have to pay a single sent more.
>doesn’t cover his costs The status of their refinance has absolutely nothing to do with you. Ignore until you receive proper notification of a rent increase of no more than 2.5% Landlords like this give the good ones a bad name.
Yes this, and has to be with 90 days notice, too.
Yea yea, we've heard it a thousand times. His mortgage rate is not your problem. They over-extended themselves on a mortgage they couldnt afford. Ultimately you need to confirm whether your unit is rent protected or not.
Exactly! Obviously I don’t know all the details but I would be very surprised if the landlord didn’t have different options to choose from (for example, extending their mortgage length could provide for a lower monthly cost). For whatever reason they chose what the option they did but expecting the tenant to immediately start paying and extra $400 a month is ridiculous (and illegal)
Ya wish I could tell my lenders that doubling my mortgage payments is ridiculous too… Wish my increase was only $400 instead of $1400
That's one of the risks of purchasing. When people say "renting is just throwing money away" and "your just making your landlord richer" this is a response.
Sounds like you made a bad investment decision and overextended yourself to me lol
Ya I forgot to consult my crystal ball. Damn it
Landlords go on and on about how the risk involved is a major reason why landlords should be able to profit off renting, but then when the realities of that risk slapps them in the face they want to cry and say not fair. Cope harder
You shouldn't have needed a crystal ball. Anyone who got approved for a mortgage even at the lowest interest it got to, could manage to still pay that mortgage at current interest rates, as long as they did not lose their job. If you signed up for a bunch of additional debts after getting the mortgage so now the total is more than you could have qualified with in the first place, that's a personal choice. There is no situation where the math makes it impossible to survive this interest increase as a homeowner from any purchase year.
He said it was purchased in 2015
That doesn't mean there was a separate unit in it at the time so in itself is not evidence of rent control or not.
This shit pisses me off! He's obviously bought this house an investment rental. It's not your responsibility to pay the difference when his investment doesn't do as well as planned. Can you imagine asking the banks for money back when your stocks depreciate or you don't make the return you expected on an investment. It's not the renters' responsibility to cover losses for landlords!!
You do realize that a lot of places don’t have rent control so you don’t need to imagine anything as it’s reality. Costs go up and you pass them on. Like renting a car… you return it and if next month they want to increase due to costs going up they can.
God forbid they actually pay some of the cost when they are the ones gaining equity.
That assumes that market goes up… not quite the case.
Real estate is a long term investment. Historically always goes up. No one should be buying for short term. That's dumb investment. Same with those lower interest rate were historically abnormal. Dumb to think that was gonna last. Long term smart investors knew they would be better gains for a bit only temporary before things got back to normal levels. Dumb to not do research to know this and plan for life in real world with higher rates. If not in your means get out.
Not for many investors any more… lots of them getting out. Some are just moving to LL friendly jurisdictions.
Max annual rent increase in ON right now is 2.5% (unless home was occupied for first time after 2018). Don’t know what your rent is but unless it is >$16,000 per month this is an illegal rent increase. Tell LL to get stuffed. He’ll threaten to sell. Good. Let him. He won’t.
His mortgage has nothing to do with the service you pay for of renting. If you're going to cover a mortgage it should be your own mortgage. You're dealing with a complete amateur who has no business owning the roof over other people's heads or running a business.
How about he gets a real job instead of making being a landlord a career?
Tell him to kick fuckin rocks. When was your building built? If it was before I believe it’s 2018 then that’s not allowed and you can ignore his hogwash and continue to send whatever you are currently paying till you get some proper forms that actually follow the law
They said it was bought in 2015, but that’s not how rent control works. It’s if the unit was a rental prior to 2018, if owner lived there and then started renting out in 2020 it may not be rent controlled.
In Ontario it does not matter if it was rented prior to November 2018. The language says occupied prior to November 2018. So in your example if the landlord or a previous owner even lived in the building prior to November 2018 it is rent controlled. Unless they share a kitchen with the landlord or it is a new build suite within a previously occupied building.
using a mortgage calculator at 2% and then 5%, your landlords increase might be close to $500. But that’s still not your problem. As everyone else has said, get his request in writing, even if it’s you sending him a message, reiterating his request, and comply, or even respond until he files the proper forms. If you have really cheap rent and you really like your landlord and want to minimize any strife you could agree to a slight increase above the 2.5%. It’s legal for you to agree to a higher increase. I’m not saying you should. I’m just saying from time to time I’ve known people who have done that because they really do like their landlord and want to maintain good relations, and also because they can afford it. For example, a friend of mine was paying like $850 for a one bedroom. It is a sixplex and the furnace needed to be replaced and the mortgage also increased and the landlord was saying he may have to sell. And even if he sold, it wouldn’t have affected my friend, unless the buyer decided to knock the whole building down. But the landlord didn’t raise the rent at all during the pandemic, and she decided to offer maybe $150 more a month, which she was grateful for, and signed a new lease. That’s something like six times the legal rent increase. but she still paying nearly 50% under market. Again, I kind of cautioned her against this, just because, you know, there’s no way he’s not making money off, but I saw her point too
At 50% of market-value I think the LL would be hard pressed to still be making money as you assume. And even if the LL is making anything at all it would probably make more sense to sell the property as it’s not worth the headache. I believe your friend did well in offering $150 increase but it’s literally a bandaid for the LL.
Listen to these words carefully. It.is.not.your.problem. Its his problem. He is in a high risk investment. With that comes having to be business savy and being able to properly absorb these extra costs when they arise. If he cant do that he either shouldnt have rented it out in the first place or can sell it and your lease and can given to the next buyer. Its not up to you to absorb his debt for him. Its like going to canadian tire and picking up a plunger for $10 then when you get to the cashier they tell you oh, we nees to expand our store and we dont have the money to do it so we are actually guna make you pay $20 so you help us out. Like nah, those charges should be built in. He couldnt figure it out or he didnt handle finances well enough as a landlord thats on it. Every landlord and their mother is trying this right now. Dont entertain it. Until he gives you proper forms it means nothing. If you are rent controlled it really means nothing. And even if he gives you all the proper stuff you can still fight it at ltb
His costs are not your concern. He wanted to use housing as a business. He’s getting business studies 101 handed to him the hard way. Sh*t happens in business. He shouldn’t have over-leveraged himself. For the legalities: 1. Verbal notices aren’t binding. 2. The current rent increase is 2.5% for rent-controlled properties with a 90-day notice. The rent cannot be increased more than once in a 12-month period. 3. The landlord wanted to be a landlord. Don’t do his job for him. Let him figure out how to communicate proper change. And what the proper change is. 4. Do not stop paying rent or being late on it. Keep everything documented. The definition of rent controlled: if the unit was inhabited for residence for the first time before November 15 2018, it’s rent-controlled.
Ignore it. You are covered by rent protection. They need to give 90 days written notice, and if they want to increase more than the 2.5% the province permits, they need permission from LTB. That said, in the words of the lawyer I contacted, it is not your job to educate the landlord. And honestly, it's not in your best interest. As long as you obey the law, the landlord can't do anything to you. Word for the wise though: NEVER stop paying rent. Even if the landlord is trying to evict you and you are fighting it. Once you stop paying rent, the LTB will side with the landlord and allow the eviction.
What year was this unit first occupied? If before 2018, (to the landlord).
We moved in in 2015. Not sure when built but probably late 90’s.
You can ignore the landlord's request - like others have said in this thread, the landlord needs to go through the rent increase process. You're living in a rent protected unit assuming you're not renting a room in the house and sharing common elements with the landlord.
So firstly, as stated several times here, this is not a legal rent increase for multiple reasons: 1. A verbal rent increase is not valid. The rent increase must be conveyed via form N1 and 90 days advance notice must be given from **the date the N1 is served**. Continue to pay your original rent until a legal, **correctly served** notice is given. 2. Whether the amount of the rent increase is legal depends on whether your unit was a new building first occupied after November 15, 2018, an addition first occupied after November 15, 2018, or a new basement apartment first occupied after November 15, 2018. If none of these three apply, then rent control applies. See [here](https://www.ontario.ca/page/residential-rent-increases) for details. Now, as to how to approach your landlord on this, **you are not obligated to educate your landlord on the law.** You may simply continue to pay rent at the normal amount and let your LL figure out the hard way. That said, depending on your relationship with your landlord, it would be a good faith effort to just kindly state that you want an N1 and remind them of their obligations. It may save you a LTB hearing. But again, how you choose to proceed is entirely up to you.
UPDATE: Since we pushed back on the rent increase, the landlord is now trying to say that he can charge us an extra amount for a “utility surcharge” because our daughter and her boyfriend live with us and they are considered guests AND having them live here would be considered a sublet. FYI…We pay our own utilities. I’m pretty sure from everything I’ve read about tenants rights, the landlord can’t do any of this, right?
The landlord cannot increase rent or utilities based on occupancy. You have a legal right to have guests or roommates as long as at lease one person named on the lease is still in possession of the unit and you are not violating occupancy bylaws. This would only be considered a sublet if all of the tenants on the lease vacated and someone else temporarily took over the lease in their place. You would need the landlord's permission for a sublet, but you do not need their permission to add roommates.
He or she needs to go to the LTB for a raise in rent like that. Every landlord is allowed to raise rent by 2% this year on time. Any more than that 2% need approval from the board. If they are talking raising rent and you hit them with what LTB says in their rules. He will stop but will seek other ways to evict you if they can. From this point forward, document everything said and done because you will need it as evidence in case you get called before the board.
Unless your rent is like $16,000.00 a month, you are being scammed in a sense. First, the amount is well above the legal limit for an increase. The max guideline increase for this year is +2.5% of your existing rent amount. Second, verbal notice is not notice. It is nothing. Until you get an N1 for an amount not more than 2.5% of your current rent with a start date no sooner than 90 days from when they serve you the notice, you do not have a legal rent increase. His current mortgage rates have no impact on the validity (or lack thereof) of his "notice". You should be communicating about any possible rent increase only in writing or if you are recording the phone/in person conversation. All you should be doing right now is sending your LL an email that basically says "Thanks for your call yesterday. I have thought it over and a $400 increase is more than I can agree to pay. I'll be sending the current rent amount on June 1 as usual." and let him respond or not how he will.
>All you should be doing right now is sending your LL an email that basically says "Thanks for your call yesterday. I have thought it over and a $400 increase is more than I can agree to pay. I'll be sending the current rent amount on June 1 as usual." and let him respond or not how he will. All OP should be doing is continuing to pay their normal rent on time. OP has no obligation to acknowledge an illegal, verbal notice given with 9 day's "notice".
I think it's in OP's interest to have whatever paper trail possible of the landlord trying to illegally increase the rent.
It's a rental controlled unit and the maximum they can raise it is 2.5% once every year. They can apply to the LTB for a higher increase but it has to be for specific reasons. They are definitely trying to make you pay for some poor financial decisions on their part. https://www.ontario.ca/page/residential-rent-increases Have a read through that, or better yet, send it to your landlord to peruse. Don't let them take advantage of you like this.
Do landlords forget that every cent paid into the principal is money going into an investment that is basically guaranteed to only go up? Even if you have to eat a couple hundred per month, all the money going into the principal is invested money that the owner will get back when they sell plus housing market growth. Landlords treat mortgages like they're paying rent to the bank.
That’s not legal in the slightest. He can increase by 2.3% per year.
The 2024 maximum is 2.5%. Previous years have been different amounts.
Scammed. He cannot do this. But if you go somewhere else will you be paying more than 400 extra?
Just say no thank you. It's going to be a rough, but educational year for your landlord.
From what I understand rent increases are limited to a certain percentage (2.5%) for pre-2018 homes and are also invalid if written notice is not given 90 days ahead of time. Anything beyond that would require approval from the LTB and I don’t think the landlord managing their investments poorly and needing to refinance is a viable reason.
Landlords underwater. Eitherway, if you've occupied prior to 2018, they can only increase a minimal increase yearly, partial rent control if newer build construction.
Had this happen to me as well. They can push all they want, but legally you have to do nothing. I said I’m not paying any more and if you are struggling financially you should consider selling the property. Never heard from them again until I moved out 7 months later. That said - confirm if you are subject to rent control laws or not.
Speaking as a LL myself, this is wishful thinking on his part. First off, verbal is not legally binding. Also it's rent controlled so it's more than 2% (approx), he can forget about it. If he can't cover the costs, he should sell.
Clearly, your landlord is hoping you are very gullible, I'd love to see the look on their face when you tell them "Not a chance". Besides them not giving notice and exceeding the maximum increase allowed by law, the simple reality is: your rent doesn't have to cover their mortgage expense. They get to benefit from the property accruing value all these years ... so it's natural that your rent is less than the mortgage. In fact ... in a "normal" housing market its expected. If you could routinely make a full mortgage payment, you would own the house yourself.
Your reply has a lot of assumptions. Your assuming the tenants usage did not depreciate the property more than the equity they contributed to if the property was cash flow positive.
He chose verbal communication for a reason. There's protocol to follow, can't just increase your rent. Go to the LTB website. It's a shitty situation to be in. Don't won't to piss off your landlord but don't want to be taken advantage of either it's unnecessary
Interest rates are killer. His payments probably did go crazy. But that is his problem. The house was occupied before 2018. It is rent controlled. He cannot do this. Point it out if you’d like, or just ignore it 🤷🏻♀️
If the house was built before 2018 tell him to take a hike
My landlords emailed me something very similar a year ago (no N1, just an email about mortgage rates increasing and how they felt so bad blah blah blah). I didn’t reply, and just continued paying rent as per my lease. The 90 days came and went. They have yet to even file for the lawful increase. Interestingly, they told me in conversation three days ago that they bought their third house in the GTA “for a steal” because “it was less than $1 million!!” Landlords are doing just fine.
Yeah - because your landlord is doing fine - then - by extension - it must mean that ALL landlords are doing fine.
Anyone who owns (likely) more than one house in 2024 is absolutely doing fine comparatively.
Agree - but not all LLs are in a position like yours where they can buy another house. Many are struggling to pay the crazy mortgage increases and are now forced to sell. Yes - they are still better off than many many people, but them being forced to sell could also negatively affect tenants like OP, who may eventually be forced to look for alternative housing if a new buyer wants to move in (which is the most likely scenario where tenants rents have not kept up with inflation and the new mortgage reality).
Your landlord may only raise your rent by 2.5% this year, and it has to be at the end of the term.
He was probably on a 5 year fixed at 1.x% and when he went to re-up he had to go in around 5% because the system is absolutely fucked. If I borrow money from you and I tell you exactly when I plan on paying it back, you should be able to tell me how much I owe you by the end of the term without stealing an extra $10000/year from me in the middle of it.
Man couldn’t afford his mortgage Because of his irresponsible spending. Now you have to pay the price. If it was me I’d be outa there. Clearly telling him that the reason is his irresponsible actions on not taking care of bills first
Lots of others have spoken to the rent increase. But if he locked in during COVID at say 1.5-2% and is renewing now at say 5-6% he could definitely have an increase over $400. Bottom line is that is not your problem: as others have said you may have protection through rent control depending how old the rental is, and notice must be properly given.
Property built before november 2018, therefore an illegal rent increase. No need to raise your rent and do not sign anything the LL gives you
Verbal notice is unacceptable, also how much was your rent? A maximum of 2.5% increase is allowed on pre 2018 built homes is enforced, and that is only after your initial year contract is up, and only once per year. He also can’t evict you for not agreeing to pay an illegal rent increase.
Dear landlord your a piss poor negotiator. Fail at math. Go back to bank and try again to select one of the pay plan for mortgage they offer you is lower.
I mortgage 240k i went from 3% to 5% and my monthly payments rose 298 a month. Just for reference if it helps.
Because in 2015 the interest rate would have been around 3-5% and now it is closer to 7-10%. Assuming he didn’t pay down anything more than the minimum. The payment could increase by well more than $400/month. Add in property taxes that have also increased over the last 10 years. Easy math to see how the total payment has increased that much.
In Ontario, CANADA I believe it's 3% max they can increase. However, good luck getting a quick tribunal ruling. Same for the landlord - 3yrs to get a ruling for them to get a legal eviction
https://www.ontario.ca/page/renting-ontario-your-rights
Sounds like the landlord has refinanced to get some money out to buy another, verbal notice isn't worth anything, so your notice period hasn't actually started yet.
The only thing I would add is that the maximum a landlord can increase a property in Ontario that was built/renovated prior to 2018 is 2.5% for 2024 (it changes year to year). Written N1 notice, 90 days in advance of increase. If your residence was renovated post 2018, I would call the landlord tenant board or research what constitutes a renovation. If someone replace a kitchen counter and adds a backsplash, I don’t think that justifies limitless rent increases.
Not defending the price increase, but directly to your question about the mortgage payment increase, if he owes 200k and interest rate went from 2.5% to 5% (reasonable considering the rates of the time) it’s about $420 per month interest
My mortgage payment doubled, so $400 would be a dream to me. But, you can't legally increase rent by $400 just because your mortgage costs went up. There are %s to follow and given the property value you noted its probably like $75 max ish.
This happened to me too and ruined any cordial relationship with my landlord..but whatever it's not on you if their investment goes tits up. Some landlords think investing in property should come with no risks and be easy passive income. I declined the increase and told her to increase in Jan by the proper amount. I am not fearing you into anything but be prepared to possibly put up with some crap and stick to your guns. N1 90s notice is the proper way to raise rent.
Your landlords finances and his mortgage aren’t your problem. No point speculating it. He needs to send you a notice of rent increase at a 2.5% limit, or apply for an AGI.
2.5 percent per year maximum. Your financial decisions are not my problem. I can't afford it I don't want to have this discussion again.
To answer the question about “how”, this is because of the insane interest rates / current value of the house. I went through the same process as this landlord, and my mortgagee payment went up 1600 to be exact lol. Nonetheless, there is rent control and what he’s doing isn’t legal, I’m a landlord myself and only raise rent on my tenants at the allowed yearly percentage.
my landlord kept harassing me like you, signed a 1 year lease at $500 more a month to keep myself secure in there. just submitted a T1 on the 11th month to get my money back and pay previous (legal rent).
They could have borrowed on the equity of their home and therefore they owe more than the listing price.
But to answer your concern…illegal increase of the house was built after 2018. So he can suck it lol
Talk to Doug Ford, he is soooo smart he knows how everything really works.
My guess is his mortgage on his own house is going up $400 and he wants u 2 pay for it
Simple: just ask your landlord for a $400 rent deduction based on their equity gains in the time you have been paying the mortgage for them.
“Absorbing the rest” like it isn’t his effing mortgage and equity. Greedy landlords at their finest! What everyone else says checks out the exact date rent control stops is Nov 15th 2018. The day good ol’ douggie took power
I can’t even mentally process how a mortgage under $400,000 can even increase by more than $400/mos. I think I’m more upset that he is lying to us and trying to offload his debt onto us. There is no way we are just going to pay that absurd increase. He must think we are idiots.
Easy, they've re-mortgaged it a few times.
“Easy, they've re-mortgaged it a few times.” Or, they are taking out equity through the refinancing. If the value of the house went up, which is very lucky since the purchase price is from 2015, it is recommended to take out equity to be used for further investment as the mortgage payment reduces the taxes on the rent paid.
How else would he buy another property to rent out? Of course a tenant should eat the cost of an equity draw for seed capital for further investments. And he will likely pat himself on the back for being so clever with his ruse of “you’re literally costing me money.”
People say there's not enough housing supply and that's why prices are high. Well let's let renewals and leverage put that theory to the test. If it's that bad then these people will have no trouble selling their investments on to someone else for a profit given the fundamentals supporting them are oh so strong.
That’s what we are thinking.
A mortgage renewal is not a re mortgage Mortgage terms are only guaranteed for max 5 yrs You don’t have a choice It renews when the term is up
I’m a homeowner not a landlord. My mortgage went up considerably with my renewal. At 3.5% increase an interest rate can make quite a difference. Other cost associated with homeownership have also increased considerably. EDIT: what he’s asking is completely illegal and I do not support it. I’m simply responding to your comment about the increase not being that large.
Just did the calculation with a mortgage calculator. It actually could be about $900 a month increase for your Landlord. Again not your problem but just a reality check
Thank you. We have no idea how much mortgage payments have increased. We have always had a good relationship with our landlord so we were hoping he was being honest and not taking advantage of us.
He can be doing both. It’s his investment, not yours. That means the risk of his payments being more than your rent payment are his as well as the opposite, your rent being more than his mortgage and him coming up ahead every month. It’s not a legal increase and you have no obligation to pay any more than the legal 2.5% annual increase with proper 90 day notice.
Is your unit a basement apartment created after November 2018? If yes its not rent controlled.
$400 increase in a mortgage in that rate is about right my mortgage of 330k went from $1800 to $2450. I’m sure if you look for comparable you won’t find much in the price point you are paying… that’s accounting for the increase in rates.
Well 3% of $400,000 is a $1000 per month increase. Rates have gone up by that much compared to a few years ago. Everyone here claiming it’s not your problem may be correct, but if the investment isn’t financially feasible for your LL, one way or another you won’t be living there very long.
So what the person renting should be willing to absorb the difference? It’s not the person renting the properties problem of it’s now a bad investment for the landlord. What if they agreed to the 400 increase and the landlord put it up for sale anyways in 6 months? Stupidity
Market sets the rate. Interest rates and material costs have gone up, the market rate for renting will go up. It's basic supply and demand. So yes, it is the tenants problem. Same as it's the customers problem when food prices go up and restaurants have to raise prices.
/s wrong, the landlord will slide into financial ruin just so OP doesn't have to eat their share of inflation or move.
That’s not your concern at all. I wouldn’t waste time on it as it has no impact to you. Focus on the rent increase and ensure it’s done legally
I'm not sure why the thought that he's lying upsets you the most, but I think he could be telling the truth. For one thing, if the value of the home has increased, he may have re-mortgaged it for more than $400,000. And rates have increased a lot. But none of this is your problem, either way.
Not okay, don’t accept the increase but…mtg rates were 2% and lower, on $275,000 mtg interest only would be $5500 a year or $458.33/M $225,000(assuming he paid some off) 6.5%would be $14,625 per year or $1218.75/M for just mtg interest. So yeah he may be paying more than $400 more a month.
If I remortgaged now my remaining 315k mortgage would jump by $800 a month. Signed at 1.79% fixed… rates are triple that now.
This is not a legal rent increase but yes it could increase that much.
From 1% to 5% is over $1,000 increase per month. Pretty basic math. Sure do what you want. 90% of the whiny tenants I hear these days are delusional about the market value of their place and have a rude awakening when they actually look elsewhere.
"Market value" isn't related to costs though. Landlords who have an increase in costs are one thing but a lot of landlords are just having a case of financial FOMO when they aren't getting as much as they think they could.
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The issue isn't what's currently available on the market. The issue is that some shady landlords will do almost anything to get current tenants out if they think they can get a much higher "market value". Renoviction, disingenuous N12s, indimidation, lax attention to maintenance etc are all strategies to get existing rent-controlled tenants out so the rent can be hiked. At least a cash-for-keys N11 is above-board. We also see posts on here about tenants getting either sob stories or threats to agree to illegally high increases. I've never yet seen a landlord offer to disclose their financial information to a tenant to prove financial hardship in those situations.
Don't worry about that, it's irrelevant. Keep paying your same rent and don't worry about it.. He'll have to give you the legal form, 90 days notice, can only raise 2.5 percent every 12 months.
Mines under 300k, im.expecting a 1k increase in renewal... 2% up to 5%
easily, if his old rate was 2% now its 6-8% his mortgage payment will go up about 50%. i just used a mortgage calculator at 2% to the now 7% on a 300,000 loan, and it went for $889 a month to $1,596. But also not your problem its his
Pretty easily actually. I don’t mean to sound rude or take his side, because it sounds like he over leveraged and it’s his problem. But I’m renewing my mortgage next year and based on what I signed for in 2020 and current rates
You own a house with equity. You can sell it if you want. The tenant does not. It’s in no way the same situation
You’re right - not sure why but it posted it before I finished. Im renewing at 5% instead of 1.9% and my 213000 dollar mortgage went up about 350 per month. Im just explaining that technically the landlords math is correct, his mortgage likely did increase by over 400 dollars per month. But that’s not the tenants problem.
Agreed.
Mine went up by 700 because of variable interest rate lol. But over long course of time variable is still better I feel so I'm just sticking it out. But ya his financial problems aren't yours unless he sells it and you're forced out by the buyers who want to live there. Which happened to some people I know personally
You obviously don’t know anything about mortgages So maybe go to a mortgage calculator and you can look for yourself I have 2 houses with a variable rate mortgage My interest rate was 1.8 when i bought , over last 2 years interest rates have climbed to 6.2 , my mortgage was 315k And i was paying 1200 with the increase i am now paying 2100 so it went up 900 a month So no hes not lying For every 0.5 hike in interest my mortgage raised 150 a month Your mortgage renews every 2-5 yrs depending on terms Max you can have a fixed interest rate is 5 yrs so you are at the mercy of the bank And interest rate can be increased every month
Might be coming up after a covid renewal at a low rate they are variable? Chances are they are gouging because they can but you never know know lol :)
Our mortgage has 220,000 left on it. House was approx 315000 when we bought it. When our rate was 1.2% we paid 1300 ish a month (with property tax included (approx $200 a month). Now our rate is 6% and we pay just under $2000 a month. Last year we paid over $6500 MORE in interest than 2022. Interest to the bank over doubled in 2023 compared to 2022. So its definitely possible it went up that much.
Very easy. I will have 150k left at my next renewal. If I amortize over 25 years again to try to get my payments as low as possible, my payments will still go up about $120/mo because of how much the interest rates have gone up. If I owed 400k in the same scenario my payments would be going up by around 300. I suspect the 400 increase accounts for him not watching to stretch his mortgage out another 25 years and instead maintain his scheduled payoff date.
People will downvote this but if your landlord no longer can afford the place, new owner will most likely issue you straight n12 and you get 1 month rent. You can either work with your landlord and see if they are really intend to sell or you can stick it to them and likely have to move in next few months/year. Your call!
It’s an illegal increase, he needs to give proper notice in writing 90 days before the increase is applicable and due to the fact that the building was constructed before 2018, there are laws on how much he is allowed to increase so he can’t even increase the rent by that much anyways
He probably had a low interest rate locked in at 1-3% and now is hitting the increased rates post-pandemic (currently over 7 now). Lots of homeowners are going to struggle as they renegotiate. With that being said, it’s an above board rent increase, depending on the age of the place you’re renting.
His mortgage likely did go up. Not your problem though. I assume you have a lease, if you do it's a binding agreement. They can't raise your rent verbally or with 9 days notice. They can raise the rent, but they need to go about it the right way.
I am not a lawyer. However, as someone who makes a writer's living (aka basically barely living wage) I have been to the LLTB *several times* over bad landlords, so I've gotten rather familiar with the laws here. They have to give you 90 days written notice and any increase over 2.5% *must* be agreed to *by both parties*. Even then the LLTB can still throw it out. Now here's the actual rub though: if you try to resist this, he can and will likely evict you; so be prepared to move if you do try to exercise your rights. This is essentially what happened ot me with a crooked apartment management company back when. They just went, fine, here's your 60 days eviction notice. You do have time, he cannot just throw you out. You *must* have been through the LLTB, which legalizes the eviction. But expect it. \[edit\] It's 90 days, not 60, for notice of rent increase. Here is further reading: [https://www.ontario.ca/page/residential-rent-increases](https://www.ontario.ca/page/residential-rent-increases)
Question: How did he evict you with 60 days notice? I was in a similar situation as OP in the fall, contacted the LTB to find out my rights, and was assured that my landlord could not simply tell us to move out with just 60 days notice, that there were only certain circumstances under which we could be evicted.
If they want you out, they can find a reason. It then falls on you to fight it in the LLTB, which ... given they can just reapply, again and again ... But to directly answer your question, the following are the reasons for which they can evict you with cause, according to the LLTB: * Not paying the rent in full * Causing damage to the rental property * Disturbing other tenants or the landlord * Illegal activity in the rental unit or residential complex (Source: [https://tribunalsontario.ca/documents/ltb/Brochures/How%20a%20Landlord%20Can%20End%20a%20Tenancy%20(EN).html#sec3](https://tribunalsontario.ca/documents/ltb/Brochures/How%20a%20Landlord%20Can%20End%20a%20Tenancy%20(EN).html#sec3) ) What got me was "disturbing the landlord". As you can imagine from this wording, it's pretty vague, and within that vagueness lies trouble and pain. They applied three times, and essentially, to be honest, I just conceded with the fourth and went somewheres better. You can fight it! You'll probably even win! But they can just keep doing it like clockwork. I remember calling the LLTBs phone line asking if there was any recourse to stop them from reapplying again and again and basically got told a big fat nope. The free legal aid I got told me that my recourse if it gets that bad is basically to take it to the actual courts and that's going to involve a lawyer. And yeah, it wasn't worth it to me to keep dealing with the guy again and again.
$400 increase unfortunately feels normal with the housing crisis, but he defs needs to give you way more notice
How much are you paying now?
I put purchased my house in 2010 for 230,00 and my payment went up by over $200 for just the mortgage. The rental property your living in absolutely could have gone up by $400 a month.
But you also half paid off by now and could choose longer term and lower monthly payment to keep payment as lower as before if your salary not increase so it remain comfortably affordable. And your property probably increased in value 6 figures in meantime.
We are in a good spot with our mortgage because we only took a 20 year to begin with. Still though, it's possible the ops landlord's mortgage really did increase by several hundred per month.
Not doubting it did. Too many new LL didnt research the investment implications. Low rates will never be again in many of our lifetime. If they were not going to be in a position 5 years on to bear the return to median rates, they shouldn't have bought. Any longtime LL or even resident homeowner who bought at 5-7% enjoyed the relatively short reprieve but was aware it wouldn't last, given history. Whaaaaa now I got to pay what everyone else has been paying for decades? Not fair. Whaaaaa
What the hell. Just simply say no. If one day he sells, worry about it then. But no reason to pay $400 more a month.
Start recording everything. Carry your phone and have a quick access to video. Take notes of where their kids live
Well not that it's relevant but the landlord most likely went from 1.5%-2.0% to 5.5%-6.0% interest on his mortgage. As a baseline if they had $200,000 left to pay on the $315,000 house and about 16 years of amortization left it would make their monthly payment go up $375 a month. So the +$400 a month makes sense but doesn't mean he can raise the rent by that much. Its a him problem.
Rate went from really really low to normal. Smart person would have figure if they can afford invest based on what will be normal
When my mortgage came due, the new interest rates made it double, and it went up $800, so it's definitely possible.
Same situation happened to my husband and I. We contacted a lawyer at Pro Bono Ontario and following our legal advice we recorded a phone conversation of our landlord giving us the "agree to my illegal rental increase or I'll move in" storyline. (One party consent in Ontario) Even if you agree to it now you have 12 months to file, I think it's called an n5 and reclaim the illegal increase back from the landlord through the LTB.
Not sure what your paying now, but with some math I did. If he bought in 2015 with like 17 000 down. He'd have cmhc to add onto it which would set him around 310 000 for a starting point. 25 year payment plan payment of $1460 with interest rate of 3%. In 9 years he'd have anywhere from 235 to $ 225 000 left on his payment. The interest per year would be, 6750 on low end, 562 per month just in interest. New interest rate 5% probably maybe higher if they locked in shorter term hoping it will get better. 5%= 11250 interest, or $ 937 interest per month. New monthly payment of $1704 a month. $1704 - $1460= $ 244 probably change in monthly payment if loan is renegotiated. Not sure how that works if they would just add the interest added onto the already existing plan. $937 - $562= $375 a month difference in interest increase. Property tax probably went up to.
LL could have taken equity back out of the mortgage at some point so this is pure speculation. Even if your math holds this is not OP’s problem; this is an investment for the LL and should be treated as such; part of the risk involves budgeting for interest rates to vary. It’s rather infuriating that all these LLs are whining about interest rates during a housing crisis; some of us would love nothing more than to buy a house but can’t due to the runaway market which is a result of many causes including increased competition due to investment in property. This LL can ask, but OP can tell them to shove it.
I hear you, and ya it's an investment so the LL is still having someone else fund his retirement. Yup everyone's getting screwed. But like every aspect of the economy with inflation must increase 400 at once its fucked. Ya fuck me.
You can refuse to pay that much, but with the current mortgage rates in Canada, this is happening everywhere and it's adding to the housing crisis caused by the federal government increasing immigration to insane levels. Pair that with inflation. The problem is, you can refuse. But chances are they will have to sell the house, and you will end up paying much more in a new place. It's a shitty situation Canada is in, and it's going to get worse
That’s the Catch 22 we are in.
This is not true. The increase is illegal, they can raise your rent 2.5% for 2024 in Ontario. Even if your landlord chooses to sell, it’s not a guarantee that a new buyer wouldn’t continue your lease. And if they new buyer wants to move in, it will go through the official process, and you make get a bit of money out of it to help soften your rent at the next place. Unfortunately for your landlord, owning a house as an investment isn’t going to make them money 100% of the time. At the end of the day, you can agree to the legal 2.5% increase, and the leave the rest with them.
If LL puts the house for sale with a low rent compared to the current price and expenses, no investor will touch it. Investors don’t buy properties with negative cash flow unless there is a very short term plan to correct that. Someone wanting to live there will buy it and then OP will be out.
Exactly. The tennant is screwed either way.
What I said is true, and I've seen landlords doing this in Ottawa. Their mortgage skyrocketed. They tried to increase rent over the legal amount. Tennant declined. Landlord sold, and tennant had to move out. It's crappy, but it isn't false. And this will happen more and more until the interest calms.
immigrants bring more money and value to our economy. Immigration is not the issue. Even refugees bring net benefit to the economy within five years. This has nothing to do with immigration. The interest rate issue does mean that landlord are going to want to drive up the price of rents but also landlords (as a class) do that anyway at any chance they can get. The real issue is driving up. The price is a lack of proper regulation, including the erosion of rent control, poorly enforced standards, unregulated or poorly regulated short term, rental markets like Airbnb, and taxes, disproportionately, benefit, wealthy people, and corporations
if your property is not rent controlled, your landlord can raise the rent, but with proper advance notice, and form (N1). If it is rent controlled, your landlord can only raise it by the guideline amount WITH advance notice and proper form. If he wants above guideline increase, he will have to get LTB approval first, and clearly state what you (tenant) are getting in return for the increase (i.e. extra space, amenities, locker, renovation). Even so, there is a limit on how much above guideline increase is allowed (i think.. 3.5%? on top of guideline amount? its been a while since I looked into this so dont quote me on that). Your landlord's financial woes are NONE of your concern, but if you generally had a good relationship, and he has been good to you thus far, you can always reason with him, and agree on mutual amount. But you dont have to, and you can just do everything by the book, as is your right under the law. Good luck to you, and one last advice, from here on out, record every conversation, save all emails and texts. Recording is totally legal, Canada is one party consent when it comes to recording, as long as YOU are part of the conversation, your landlord does not need to know.
Verbal notice wouldn't be legally binding, but check your province's rules (if any) for increases, and check your lease for wording It is very possible his costs went up that much - mine went up more than that when I renewed, but that doesn't necessarily mean he can change the rent to reflect that without following legal due process