Pets (RTA)

TEL-26757 (Re), 2009 CanLII 78527 (ON LTB)

11. As stipulated in the Act, the Landlords had no right to include a “no pet” clause in the lease agreement. Therefore, the issue regarding the Tenant’s pet is without merit; and the Tenant was not required to take any action, including giving up the family pet, in order to void the Notice of Termination.

12. While the Landlords might have been annoyed with the Tenant for seeking advice from local officials and for involving the police, it was reasonable for the Tenant to do what she found was necessary to assert her rights as a Tenant. Furthermore, while the Tenant’s allegations with regards to the stranger who showed up at her workplace as being a friend of the Landlords appear to be unfounded, I find, based on the Landlord’s inappropriate practice of serving documents at the Tenant’s place of work, the Tenant’s assessment in this situation was reasonable under the circumstances.

13. I also find the Landlords requirement that a carpet replacement fund be created to accommodate their future plans to move into the unit, to be not only illegal but unreasonable and in my view constitutes harassment and substantial interference with the Tenant’s ability to enjoy the unit for everyday living activities.

TST-04945-19 (Re), 2019 CanLII 134584 (ON LTB)

47. It is uncontested that the Landlord considered not renting the unit to the Tenants because they have a dog and that she “compromised” by instructing the Tenants that they could not have the dog in certain parts of the house. I find that the Landlord harassed the Tenants and substantially interfered with their reasonable enjoyment by restricting the Tenants’ dog’s movements within the rental unit. The Act specifically states that “no pet” clauses in rental agreements are void. This is statutory recognition that tenants are permitted to have pets. It follows that tenants may reasonably expect not to be restricted with respect to their pets. Restrictions on a pet may be reasonable in circumstances where the pet is causing a problem like disturbing noises or damage to the unit, but there was no evidence that the Tenant’s dog had caused any problems.