Landlords - Reasons For Ending a Residential Tenancy Early in Ontario

In dealing with our investor/landlord clients, we often come across situations where a residential tenancy agreement needs to be terminated early.  Because this can be a technical process sometimes the rules are misunderstood.  Today we are going to cover the legal reasons for ending a residential tenancy agreement early so you don’t get yourself in trouble.

Reasons for Ending a Tenancy Early

1.   The landlord and tenant mutually agree to end the tenancy early.  This can be for whatever reason.  Form N11 should be used for this process.

2.   Ending an agreement for “cause”.  Some examples include:

I).   Not paying the rent in full

II).   Causing damage to the rental property

III).   Disturbing other tenants or the landlord

IV).   Illegal activity in the unit or complex

3.  There are also other reasons for ending a tenancy that are not related to what the tenant has done, or not done.  These are sometimes called "no fault" reasons for ending a tenancy and can include:

I).   The landlord plans to do major repairs or renovations that require a building permit and the work cannot be done unless the rental unit is empty.

II).   The landlord requires the rental unit because the landlord, a member of the landlord’s immediate family or their caregiver wish to move into the unit.

III).   The landlord has agreed to sell the property and the purchaser requires all or part of the property because the purchaser, a member of the purchaser’s immediate family or their caregiver wish to move into the unit.  (This reason for eviction only applies in rental buildings with three or fewer units and in condominiums.)

4.  There is a long list of other technical reasons.  They can be read here Ontario Landlord & Tenant board website:

http://www.sjto.gov.on.ca/documents/ltb/Brochures/How%20a%20Landlord%20Can%20End%20a%20Tenancy%20(EN).pdf

Now that you know some of the reasons a residential tenancy agreement can be terminated early in Ontario, you can protect yourself.  Next time we will be discuss the forms, notices, time periods, etc you need to know to follow through on this process.

Readers, have you ever had to end a tenancy agreement early?  How did it go?