In April 2017, the Government of Ontario announced Ontario’s Fair Housing Plan, comprised of 16 new housing measures. As part of the Housing Plan, many of the measures focused on the rental-housing market and introduced Bill 124, the Rental Fairness Act, 2017.
Ontario recently announced new rules pertaining to evictions. Effective, September 1st, 2017, when a landlord ends a tenancy for personal use of the rental unit (themselves or family member), landlords must provide one month’s rent to the tenant or offer the tenant another acceptable rental unit.
Landlords must express intent and/or evidence that they will be occupying the unit for at least a year. Any landlords who re-rents or converts the unit into a short-term rental within a year of terminating a tenancy could face a fine of up to $25,000.
The government has signaled it intends on retaining vacancy de-control, which is an important incentive for landlords to continue to invest in rental housing. Vacancy de-control allows landlords to establish rents that reflect market conditions upon turnover of the unit to a new tenant.
OREA is currently examining how these new measures will impact Agreements of Purchase and Sale and our standard lease agreement. OREA will provide further information and updates in the coming weeks.
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