What happens when the landlord sells the house, you are living in?

By Theresa Grant Real Estate Columnist So, the landlord has decided to sell the property you are renting. What exactly does that mean for you? Will you have to vacate prior to the sale? Will you be able to stay on as tenants once a new owner takes over? Will your rent increase if a new owner takes over? There can be a lot of anxiety when you get the news that the home you are renting is being sold. Before you panic, keep in mind that in Ontario, you have rights. In Ontario, tenants cannot be evicted because a landlord is listing their property for sale. If the tenant is in a lease, then the new owner assumes the tenant. If the tenant is month to month, then the current landlord can give the tenant sixty days’ notice, and compensation equal to one month’s rent to the tenants, informing them that the new owner intends to move into the property. If the new owner assumes the tenancy, nothing changes as far as rights and responsibilities. You will now pay rent to your new landlord. The last month’s rent that you paid to the previous owner will be transferred to the new owner. If per chance you have not had a rent increase in the last twelve months, the new landlord may opt to raise your rent according to the guidelines set out by the Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing. The Landlord and Tenant Board was created by the Residential Tenancies Act and is governed by the RTA. It is here that both landlords and tenants can turn to get factual information and answers to questions they may have, before acting on anything. There have been many difficult stories in the news in the last few years regarding tenants that refuse to leave even when the house has been sold to a new owner. Sellers have had to give the new purchasers a reduction in the cost of the house because they were unable to move in due to the fact that the tenants would not move out. I saw a story on the news in Ottawa. A man sold his house, gave the tenants the proper notification, on the proper forms within the set time frame. Closing day came around and the new owners could not take possession of the house because the tenants refused to leave. The landlord did everything legally possible to get the people to go but they simply would not leave. The paperwork was filed against the tenants but with the Landlord and Tenant Board being so backed up, it takes months and months for a case to snake its way through the system. The landlord in this particular case offered the tenants money to leave. A situation called cash for keys. The tenants were offered $10,000 and a moving truck according to the landlord. When the offered was made, the tenants told the landlord to ‘make a real offer’. This story was aired on CTV Ottawa News in November of 2023. Quite an eye opener. I believe that it was around the same time that rents seemed to skyrocket out of control in Ontario, that landlords wanted tenants out so they could re rent the spaces at a higher cost, and tenants started refusing to leave on mass. This has always been the case to a degree but nothing like what we have seen in the last few years. The rental market is yet another thing adversely affected by Covid-19. There are good and bad on both sides. While the vast majority of tenants are wonderful, there are a few bad apples out there. The same applies to landlords. Most are people you would want to rent from, as they take their responsibilities seriously and treat their properties as the investments they are. However, there are some who don’t take care of their properties and ignore the tenants’ rights. If you do run into a problem when renting, the first place to look would be to the Landlord and Tenant Board. They have a variety of forms and applications for many different situations. It is very important that you follow the letter of the law when it comes to landlord and tenant disputes. If you remain on the right side of the law when dealing with these types of disputes, chances are you’ll come out a winner. It just takes time. Questions? Column ideas? You can email me at newspaper@ocentral.com