Unilaterally Altering Contracts

Kritz v City of Guelph, 2016 ONSC 6783 (CanLII)

[53] With respect to the City’s argument that certain rights of tenants under the RTA (including security of tenure) are “conferred upon tenants individually and cannot be displaced or circumvented by a group lease” and “while a group may commence a tenancy together, they [i.e. each member of the group] retain individual rights under the RTA and the landlord must deal with each tenant as an individual”, Mr. Kritz points out a recent decision of the Ontario Landlord and Tenant Board, as reflected in D.S. v. R.T., SOT-68533-16-RV, 2016 CanLII 44359 (Ont. L.T.B.), at paras. 6-10. There, the Board upheld an earlier decision that had determined that one tenant could unilaterally terminate a joint tenancy without the consent (or even the knowledge) of his/her co-tenant.