Refusal to Assign (Administrative Fee)

Caselaw.Ninja, Riverview Group Publishing 2021 ©
Date Retrieved:	2024-10-07
CLNP Page ID:	1784
Page Categories:	[Contract Law, Leases, & Sub-Letting (LTB)], [Illegal Charges and Fees (RTA)]
Citation:	Refusal to Assign (Administrative Fee), CLNP 1784, <>, retrieved on 2024-10-07
Editor:	Sharvey
Last Updated:	2023/01/22

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

95 (1) Subject to subsections (2), (3) and (6), and with the consent of the landlord, a tenant may assign a rental unit to another person. 2006, c. 17, s. 95 (1).

(2) If a tenant asks a landlord to consent to an assignment of a rental unit, the landlord may,

(a) consent to the assignment of the rental unit; or

(b) refuse consent to the assignment of the rental unit. 2006, c. 17, s. 95 (2).

(3) If a tenant asks a landlord to consent to the assignment of the rental unit to a potential assignee, the landlord may,

(a) consent to the assignment of the rental unit to the potential assignee;

(b) refuse consent to the assignment of the rental unit to the potential assignee; or

(c) refuse consent to the assignment of the rental unit. 2006, c. 17, s. 95 (3).

(4) A tenant may give the landlord a notice of termination under section 96 within 30 days after the date a request is made if,

(a) the tenant asks the landlord to consent to an assignment of the rental unit and the landlord refuses consent;

(b) the tenant asks the landlord to consent to an assignment of the rental unit and the landlord does not respond within seven days after the request is made;

(c) the tenant asks the landlord to consent to an assignment of the rental unit to a potential assignee and the landlord refuses consent to the assignment under clause (3) (c); or

(d) the tenant asks the landlord to consent to an assignment of the rental unit to a potential assignee and the landlord does not respond within seven days after the request is made. 2006, c. 17, s. 95 (4).

...

96 (1) A tenant may give notice of termination of a tenancy if the circumstances set out in subsection 95 (4) apply. 2006, c. 17, s. 96 (1).

(2) The date for termination specified in the notice shall be at least a number of days after the date of the notice that is the lesser of the notice period otherwise required under this Act and 30 days. 2006, c. 17, s. 96 (2).

...

134 (1) Unless otherwise prescribed, no landlord shall, directly or indirectly, with respect to any rental unit,

(a) collect or require or attempt to collect or require from a tenant, prospective tenant or former tenant of the rental unit a fee, premium, commission, bonus, penalty, key deposit or other like amount of money whether or not the money is refundable;

(b) require or attempt to require a tenant or prospective tenant to pay any consideration for goods or services as a condition for granting the tenancy or continuing to permit occupancy of a rental unit if that consideration is in addition to the rent the tenant is lawfully required to pay to the landlord; or

(c) rent any portion of the rental unit for a rent which, together with all other rents payable for all other portions of the rental unit, is a sum that is greater than the rent the landlord may lawfully charge for the rental unit. 2006, c. 17, s. 134 (1); 2017, c. 13, s. 24 (1).

(1.1) No landlord shall, directly or indirectly, with respect to any rental unit, collect or require or attempt to collect or require from a former tenant of the rental unit any amount of money purporting to be rent in respect of,

(a) any period after the tenancy has terminated and the tenant has vacated the rental unit; or

(b) any period after the tenant’s interest in the tenancy has terminated and the tenant has vacated the rental unit. 2017, c. 13, s. 24 (2).

General, O Reg 516/06

6. (1) Section 8, paragraphs 6, 7 and 8 of subsection 30 (1), sections 51, 52, 54, 55, 56 and 95 to 99, subsection 100 (2) and sections 101, 102, 104, 111 to 115, 117, 120, 121, 122, 126 to 133, 140, 143, 149, 150, 151, 159, 165 and 167 of the Act do not apply to rental units that meet the criteria set out in subsection (2) and that were developed or acquired under the following initiatives:

1. Canada-Ontario Affordable Housing Program — Rental and Supportive Housing.

2. Canada-Ontario Affordable Housing Program — Northern Housing.

3. Residential Rehabilitation Assistance Program.

4. Supporting Communities Partnership Initiative.

5. Municipal capital facility by-laws for housing or other council-approved municipal housing programs. O. Reg. 516/06, s. 6 (1).

...

(3) Section 8, paragraphs 6, 7 and 8 of subsection 30 (1), sections 51, 52, 54, 55, 56 and 95 to 99, subsection 100 (2) and sections 101, 102, 104, 111 to 115, 117, 120, 121, 122, 126 to 133, 140, 143, 149, 150, 151, 159, 165 and 167 of the Act do not apply to rental units that were developed or acquired, and that continue to operate, under the Rural and Native Rental Housing Program established under the National Housing Act (Canada). O. Reg. 516/06, s. 6 (3).

...

7. (1) Subsections 37 (4) and (5) of the Act do not apply to a rental unit in a care home if,

(a) the rental unit is occupied for the purpose of receiving rehabilitative or therapeutic services agreed upon by the tenant and the landlord;

(b) the period of occupancy agreed to by the tenant and the landlord is no more than four years;

(c) the tenancy agreement stipulates that the tenancy may be terminated and the tenant evicted when the objectives of the services have been met or will not be met; and

(d) the unit is subject to an agreement for the provision of housing services between the landlord and a service manager as defined in the Housing Services Act, 2011. O. Reg. 516/06, s. 7 (1); O. Reg. 377/11, s. 2.

...

17. The following payments are exempt from subsections 134 (1) and (3) of the Act:

1. Payment for additional keys, remote entry devices or cards requested by the tenant, not greater than the direct costs.

2. Payment for replacement keys, remote entry devices or cards, not greater than the direct replacement costs, unless the replacement keys, remote entry devices or cards are required because the landlord, on the landlord’s initiative, changed the locks.

3. Payment of a refundable key, remote entry device or card deposit, not greater than the expected direct replacement costs.

4. Payment of NSF charges charged by a financial institution to the landlord.

5. Payment of an administration charge, not greater than $20, for an NSF cheque.

6. Payment by a tenant, former tenant, subtenant or former subtenant in settlement of a court action or potential court action or an application or potential application to the Board.

7. Payment to a landlord or tenant of a mobile home park or land lease community at the commencement of a tenancy as consideration for the rental of a particular site.

8. Payment of a charge not exceeding $250 for transferring, at the request of the tenant,

i. between rental units to which subsection 6 (1) or (3) of this Regulation applies, if the rental units are located in the same residential complex, or

ii. between rental units in a residential complex that is described in paragraph 1, 2, 3 or 4 of subsection 7 (1) of the Act.

9. Payment of an amount to reimburse the landlord for property taxes paid by the landlord with respect to a mobile home or a land lease home owned by the tenant. O. Reg. 516/06, s. 17; O. Reg. 562/17, s. 1.

EAT-05470-10 (Re), 2010 CanLII 37639 (ON LTB)

1. The Tenant paid a last month rent deposit of $800.00 on September 15, 2009.

2. The Tenant received $650.00 from the Landlord on or about March 10, 2010.

3. I find that the Tenant did assign her tenancy agreement as of March 1, 2010.

4. Subsection 95 (7) of the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, (the ‘Act’) states:

“A landlord may charge a tenant only for the landlord’s reasonable out-of-pocket expenses incurred in giving consent to an assignment to a potential assignee.”

5. Paragraph 9 of the lease agreement signed by the Tenant states:

“The Tenant covenants not to assign or sublet the premises without the consent of the Landlord which shall not be arbitrarily or unreasonably withheld, and agrees to pay the Landlord’s reasonable expenses incurred thereby.”

6. I find that the Act supersedes the lease agreement.

7. Black’s law dictionary, fifth edition, defines “Out of pocket expense: a direct expense which requires the immediate outlay of cash in contrast to an accrued expense.”

8. I find that the Landlord’s everyday reasonable administrative expense is not an out of pocket expense.

9. I find that the Landlord did not provide the Board with any out of pocket expense receipts.

10. I find that the Landlord owes the Tenant $150.00 as part of her last month rent deposit

11. The Landlord failed to pay the Tenant the interest on last month's deposit as required by the Act.

12. The Landlord owes the Tenant the total amount $203.76. This amount represents $150.00 for part of the last month rent deposit, $45.00 for the cost of filing this application, $8.14 for the interest on the last month rent deposit ($800.00) from September 15, to March 10, 2010 and $0.62 for the interest on the part of the last month rent deposit ($150.00) from March 11, 2010 to May 20, 2010.

TST-26657-12 (Re), 2012 CanLII 36308 (ON LTB)

5. The Landlord asserts that the parties had a verbal agreement that in the event she was able to assign the unit to another tenant prior to April 30, 2012, she would retain the equivalent of one month’s rent. The Landlord submitted that she applied the LMR to February’s rent and as for the payment made by the Tenants in February she retained that amount as per their agreement. The Tenants testified that they had no recollection of any discussion involving any such fee.

6. There was insufficient evidence before me to support the Landlord’s claimed that the parties had agreed that she could retain the equivalent of one month’s rent if she found another tenant to re-rent the unit prior to April 30, 2012. That being said, even if the parties had agreed to the amount, by operation of subsection 95(7) of Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 (the ‘Act’): a landlord may charge a tenant only for the landlord’s reasonable out-of-pocket expenses incurred in giving consent to an assignment to a potential assignee. Section 3 of the Act states that the Act applies despite any agreement or waiver to the contrary. In other words a landlord can not just pick an amount arbitrarily to charge a tenant for costs relating to an assignment, it can only seek the reasonable out-of-pocket expenses incurred.

7. As a result, I find that the Landlord had received rental payments from the Tenants for the period ending February 29, 2012. The Tenants’ tenancy was effectively terminated on February 29, 2012 when the unit was re-rented for March 1, 2012. The Landlord has retained the Tenants' last month's rent deposit. This is prohibited by the Act.

8. The Landlord has also failed to pay the Tenants interest on last month's deposit, as required by the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 (the 'Act').

TET-06146-19 (Re), 2020 CanLII 61182 (ON LTB)

10. When the Tenant asked to break the fixed-term lease, the Landlord had the option to say no. However, the Landlord did not exercise that option and agreed to the Tenant ’s request. Thus, the parties entered into an agreement to terminate the tenancy in accordance with section 37(3) of the Act. The question before me is whether the Act entitles the Landlord to charge or retain a fee for agreeing to terminate the tenancy.

11. Subsection 134(1) of the Act says:

134. (1) Unless otherwise prescribed, no landlord shall, directly or indirectly, with respect to any rental unit,

(a) collect or require or attempt to collect or require from a tenant or prospective tenant of the rental unit a fee, premium, commission, bonus, penalty, key deposit or other like amount of money whether or not the money is refundable;

12. This reads as an absolute prohibition against a landlord charging any kind of fee other than rent to a tenant. However, the section uses the phrase “unless otherwise prescribed” which means fees can be charged if they are specifically permitted in the regulations to the Act.

13. The exemptions to s. 134(1) are set out in section 17 of Ontario Regulation 516/06:

17. The following payments are exempt from section 134 of the Act:

1. Payment for additional keys, remote entry devices or cards requested by the tenant, not greater than the direct costs.

2. Payment for replacement keys, remote entry devices or cards, not greater than the direct replacement costs, unless the replacement keys, remote entry devices or cards are required because the landlord, on the landlord’s initiative, changed the locks.

3. Payment of a refundable key, remote entry device or card deposit, not greater than the expected direct replacement costs.

4. Payment of NSF charges charged by a financial institution to the landlord.

5. Payment of an administration charge, not greater than $20, for an NSF cheque.

6. Payment by a tenant, former tenant, subtenant or former subtenant in settlement of a court action or potential court action or an application or potential application to the Board.

7. Payment to a landlord or tenant of a mobile home park or land lease community at the commencement of a tenancy as consideration for the rental of a particular site.

8. Payment of a charge not exceeding $250 for transferring, at the request of the tenant,

i. between rental units to which subsection 6 (1) or (3) of this Regulation applies, if the rental units are located in the same residential complex, or

ii. between rental units in a residential complex that is described in paragraph 1, 2, 3 or 4 of subsection 7 (1) of the Act.

9. Payment of an amount to reimburse the landlord for property taxes paid by the landlord with respect to a mobile home or a land lease home owned by the tenant

14. The list of exemptions does not include a charge for entering into an agreement to terminate the tenancy.

15. Based on the documentary evidence before me, there was no evidence that the deduction of the $300.00 from the Tenant ’s deposit was in exchange of settling any potential court action.

16. Therefore, I find that the Landlord breached section 134 of Act by retaining $300.00 from the Tenant’s last month’s rent deposit as an administration fee for breaking the lease.

17. As the Tenant has been successful in her application, the Tenant is entitled to a reimbursement of the application filing fee.

18. This order contains all of the reasons for my decision within it. No further reasons shall be issued.

EAT-30066-13 (Re), 2013 CanLII 18262 (ON LTB)

1. After hearing submissions from both parties, I find that the Landlord’s clause in the contract contravenes subsection 95(7) of the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006. The amount of $1,750.00 is not a reasonable out –of- pocket expense incurred by the Landlord in giving consent to an assignment.