BUSINESS PRACTICES PERMISSIBLE TO LANDLORDS IN SELECTING PROSPECTIVE TENANTS FOR RESIDENTIAL ACCOMMODATION
AI-assisted research summary: Landlords may ask prospective tenants for certain screening information, may use it to assess the tenant, may require a rent guarantee or security deposit, and may not refuse accommodation for protected discriminatory reasons.
1. (1) A landlord may request credit references and rental history information, or either of them, from a prospective tenant and may request from a prospective tenant authorization to conduct credit checks on the prospective tenant. O. Reg. 290/98, s. 1 (1). (2) A landlord may consider credit references, rental history information and credit checks obtained pursuant to requests under subsection (1), alone or in any combination, in order to assess the prospective tenant and the landlord may select or refuse the prospective tenant accordingly. O. Reg. 290/98, s. 1 (2). (3) A landlord may request income information from a prospective tenant only if the landlord also requests information listed in subsection (1). O. Reg. 290/98, s. 1 (3). (4) A landlord may consider income information about a prospective tenant in order to assess the prospective tenant and the landlord may select or refuse the prospective tenant accordingly only if the landlord considers the income information together with all the other information that was obtained by the landlord pursuant to requests under subsection (1). O. Reg. 290/98, s. 1 (4). (5) If, after requesting the information listed in subsections (1) and (3), a landlord only obtains income information about a prospective tenant, the landlord may consider the income information alone in order to assess the prospective tenant and the landlord may select or refuse the prospective tenant accordingly. O. Reg. 290/98, s. 1 (5). 2. (1) A landlord may require a prospective tenant to obtain a guarantee for the rent. O. Reg. 290/98, s. 2 (1). (2) A landlord may require a prospective tenant to pay a security deposit in accordance with sections 105 and 106 of the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006. O. Reg. 290/98, s. 2 (2); O. Reg. 95/18, s. 1. 3. In selecting a prospective tenant, a landlord of a rental unit described in paragraph 1, 2, 3 or 4 of subsection 7 (1) or subsection 8 (1) of the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 may request and use income information about a prospective tenant in order to determine a prospective tenant’s eligibility for rent in an amount geared-to-income and, when requesting and using the income information for that purpose only, the landlord is not bound by subsections 1 (3) and (4). O. Reg. 290/98, s. 3; O. Reg. 646/00, s. 1; O. Reg. 95/18, s. 2. 4. Nothing in this Regulation authorizes a landlord to refuse accommodation to any person because of race, ancestry, place of origin, colour, ethnic origin, citizenship, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, marital status, family status, disability or the receipt of public assistance. O. Reg. 290/98, s. 4; O. Reg. 31/00, s. 1; O. Reg. 284/05, s. 1; O. Reg. 95/18, s. 3. 5. Omitted (provides for coming into force of provisions of this Regulation). O. Reg. 290/98, s. 5.