Standard Form Lease Agreement (RTA)

Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, S.O. 2006, c. 17

12.1 (1) Every tenancy agreement that is entered into in respect of a tenancy of a prescribed class on or after the date prescribed for that class of tenancies shall comply with the following requirements:

1. The tenancy agreement shall be in the form prescribed for that class of tenancies.

2. The tenancy agreement shall comply with the requirements prescribed for that class of tenancies. 2017, c. 13, s. 5.

O. Reg. 9/18: TENANCY AGREEMENTS FOR TENANCIES OF A PRESCRIBED CLASS

1. The following class of tenancies is prescribed for the purposes of subsection 12.1 (1) of the Act:

1. The class that consists of all tenancies for occupancy of accommodation with respect to which all or part of the Act, other than Part V.1, applies, except for tenancies for occupancy of any of the following:

i. A rental unit in a care home.

ii. A rental unit that consists solely of a site for a mobile home.

iii. A rental unit that consists solely of a site on which there is a land lease home.

iv. Accommodation described in clause 6 (1) (a) or (b) of the Act.

v. A rental unit described in subsection 7 (1) of the Act.

vi. A rental unit described in subsection 6 (1) or (3) of Ontario Regulation 516/06 (General) made under the Act.

vii. Any accommodation which is not described in subparagraphs i to vi and for which the tenant pays rent in an amount geared-to-income due to public funding.

Prescribed date 2. For the purposes of subsection 12.1 (1) of the Act, the prescribed date for the prescribed class of tenancies described in paragraph 1 of section 1 of this Regulation is April 30, 2018.

SWT-28490-19 (Re), 2019 CanLII 87649 (ON LTB)

4. Pursuant to subsection 47.0.1(1) of the Act, since the Landlords still did not provide a copy of the required lease within thirty days of the date that the Tenants withheld the rent under subsection 12.1(6) of the Act, they were entitled to provide the Landlords with sixty days’ notice to terminate the tenancy:

47.0.1 (1) Despite subsections 44 (3) and (4) and section 47, a tenant may terminate a tenancy referred to in subsection 12.1 (1) that is a yearly tenancy or a tenancy for a fixed term by giving notice of termination to the landlord in accordance with this section if,

(a) the tenant has made a demand for a proposed tenancy agreement under subsection 12.1 (5) in respect of the tenancy; and

(b) either one of the following applies,

(i) at least 21 days have elapsed since the day the tenant made the demand and the landlord has not complied with the demand, or

(ii) the landlord has complied with the demand and the tenant has not entered into the proposed tenancy agreement provided to the tenant by the landlord.

5. J.S. presented an email from the Landlords agreeing to terminate the tenancy and to apply the last month’s rent deposit to June, 2019. The Tenants vacated the rental unit on April 24, 2019.

6. J.S. also testified that despite a term in the written lease requiring the Landlords to provide a washing machine, throughout the tenancy, no washing machine was ever provided to the Tenants.

7. As well, J.S. testified that the Landlords withheld the supply of hot water to the rental unit from January 29, 2019 to February 16, 2019.

8. Therefore, I find that the Landlords, the Landlords’ superintendent or the Landlords’ agent substantially interfered with the reasonable enjoyment of the rental unit or residential complex by the Tenants or by a member of their household and withheld a reasonable supply of a vital service, care service, or food that the Landlords were obligated to supply under the tenancy agreement or deliberately interfered with the reasonable supply of vital service, care service, or food.

9. In light all of the evidence submitted and absent any evidence to the contrary, I find that the Tenants’ request to terminate the tenancy is reasonable.

TSL-04079-19 (Re), 2019 CanLII 87637 (ON LTB)

9. The Tenant withheld one month’s rent because the Landlord failed to provide her with a standard lease pursuant to section 12.1 of the Act. The Tenant submitted that she is entitled to retain the rent withheld.

10. Pursuant to section 12.1 of the Act, effective April 30, 2018, Landlords, except those exempt under Ontario Regulation 9/18, must use the prescribed standard lease for tenancy agreements. The tenancy commenced in January 2019 and the Landlord is not exempt. On March 2, 2019, the Tenant requested in writing that the Landlord provide a proposed tenancy agreement based on the standard lease form. The Landlord did not respond within 21 days, therefore the Tenant was entitled to withhold one month’s rent and did withhold the rent for April 2019 in the amount of $2,000.00 (section 12.1(6) of the Act). At the time of the hearing, more than 30 days after the first rent payment was withheld, the Landlord had not provided the Tenant with a proposed standard lease. Thus, the Landlord may not require the Tenant to pay the withheld rent (section 12.1(9) of the Act). The withheld rent has been deducted from the amount of rent owing.

TST-00209-18 (Re), 2019 CanLII 87010 (ON LTB)

32. The Tenants testified that after they signed the tenancy agreement on August 15, 2018, they became aware of the recently-mandated standard form lease. On September 6, 2018, while the Landlord was at the residential complex performing maintenance work, the Tenants asked him if he would sign the standard lease, but the Landlord refused.

33. In the circumstances, I do not find that the Landlord’s unwillingness to sign the standard lease constituted a substantial interference. Although landlords and tenants are now required to use the standard form lease (as a result of amendments made to the Act that became effective on April 30, 2018), tenants also have remedies available under the Act to address a situation where a landlord refuses to use the form, which include withholding rent. Therefore, the Tenants had self-help remedies at their disposal, which they chose not to take advantage of. Further, the Landlord’s refusal to sign the standard form lease did not diminish any the Tenants’ other rights and responsibilities under the Act. Accordingly, I do not find that the Landlord’s refusal to sign the standard form lease constitutes a substantial interference and this claim is therefore dismissed.

TNL-07406-18 (Re), 2018 CanLII 113923 (ON LTB)

4. On June 12, 2018 the Tenant wrote to the Landlord requesting a Standard Lease Agreement pursuant to the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 (the ‘Act’) (according to him his third request).

5. The Landlord did not respond to this request nor was a Standard Lease entered into by the parties.

6. The Tenant withheld the rent for the month of July 2018, claiming he was entitled to do so pursuant to S. 12.1 of the Act.

7. The Tenant has vacated the rental unit. The parties agree that the only amount of rent at issue is the rent for the month of July 2018. The Landlord has brought these applications to require the Tenant to pay the rent for that month.

8. The Landlord submits that S. 12.1 of the Act is not applicable to this tenancy because the tenancy agreement was entered into before April 30, 2018.

9. S. 12.1(1) requires that every tenancy agreement entered into in respect of a prescribed class of tenancies, on or after the date prescribed for that class of tenancies, must comply with certain requirements, including the requirement that the tenancy agreement be in the form prescribed pursuant to the Act.

10. The rental unit falls within the prescribed class of tenancies.

11. S. 12.1(3) of the Act provides that S. 12.1 does not apply with respect to a tenancy agreement entered into before the applicable prescribed date. The applicable prescribed date set out in O Reg 9/18 is April 30, 2018.

12. Thus the date for determining whether S. 12.1 applies to this tenancy is the date the tenancy agreement was entered into and not the date that the tenancy commenced.

13. I find that the parties entered into a verbal tenancy agreement for the rental unit on April 3, 2018. The date on which the tenancy was to commence was agreed on, as was the monthly rent and the rental unit to which the agreement applied. Thus the essential terms of the agreement were in place on April 3, 2018 for the tenancy which was to commence on May 1, 2018.

14. Because the rental agreement predated April 30, 2018, S. 12.1 of the Act does not apply to this tenancy, and the Tenant is not permitted to withhold rent.

TET-99341-19 (Re), 2020 CanLII 61268 (ON LTB)

51. I would observe at this point that none of the proposed terms in the handwritten document are actually legally enforceable. For example:

• As the Tenant’s spouse holds power of attorney for property for her spouse, the Landlord has no right at all to refuse to deal with her.

• Under s. 20(1) of the Act a landlord is responsible for maintenance and repairs. That obligation cannot be shifted by lease terms to a tenant. (See sections 3 and 4 of the Act.)

• A tenancy like this one cannot be terminated on 30 days’ notice. Pursuant to s. 44(3), at least 60 days’ notice must be given and the date of termination must be the last day of the yearly period.

• After a tenant’s death any surviving spouse living in the rental unit automatically becomes the tenant provided he or she does not voluntarily vacate within 30 days of the death. (See s. 3(1) of Ontario Regulation 516/06.)

• Finally, after April of 2018 it became mandatory for all landlords to use the government’s standard lease form for all written tenancy agreements.

TNL-22233-19 (Re), 2020 CanLII 31147 (ON LTB)

12. The Tenant alleges that her obligation to pay rent is suspended pursuant to subsection 12(4) of the Act.

13. In this case, although the Tenant’s tenancy falls into the definition of a tenancy of a prescribed class, pursuant to O.Reg. 9/18 sections 1 and 2, as well as section 12.1 of the Act, the Tenant has not alleged that there is no signed tenancy agreement in existence. In fact, the Tenant said that she asked the Landlord for a copy of the lease on the day she signed the lease, but the Landlord has so far ignored her requests.

14. Section 12.1 is silent about a tenant’s demands for a written copy of a lease agreement.

15. Subsection 12.1(12) provides that nothing in the provisions about tenancies of a prescribed class affect the operation of section 12.

16. Therefore, I find that subsection 12(4) of the Act, which states the Landlord’s obligation to give a signed copy of the tenancy agreement to the Tenant within 21 days after the Tenant signs it and gives it to the Landlord, does, in fact, apply to this matter. The Tenant has requested a signed copy of the tenancy agreement, and the Landlord has failed to provide one within 21 days. Therefore, the Tenant’s obligation to pay rent was suspended.

17. The Landlord had not provided a signed copy of the tenancy agreement at the date of the hearing, so the Tenant’s obligation to pay rent remains suspended.

18. Since the Tenant’s obligation to pay rent was, and still is, suspended, the Landlord was not entitled to file an application for arrears of rent.

19. Since the Landlord was not entitled to file an application for arrears of rent, the Landlord’s application will be dismissed.