Recent Feedback
What can we do if our daughter signed a lease with 4 other girls and she now has to move out of town for work. She is looking to find someone to assign her room to but the 4 girls want the final say. In the Landlord Tenant Act it states that landlord is the one who has the final say. If they continue to restrict our ability to assign the room, can we stop payment?
Optional Information: Province/Territory relating to question: Ontario Already Tried: We have spoken to the landlord who said he had no problem with the assignment as long as the other girls agreed. We have posted ads on all the college and university websites, as well as Kijiji. We had one person that was looking for just the summer months. Currently none of the girls are living there and this person was a 4th year law student from McGill. The tenant currently in the city we are looking to assign in would not even meet the potential tenant because he was a male.
I am sorry to hear this.
The landlord has to agree to the sublet and cannot unreasonably withhold his consent.
But if the other tenants do not agree then it's up to the landlord to decide if that is reasonable as if he allows them to turn away every potential sub-tenant then he could be said not to be reasonable.
It is possible that the Board would say the girls do not have to share the home with a male.
I suggest your daughter tell the other tenants that she will stop paying and that while she may be liable the landlord can evict them all so they will then agree to be more reasonable in terms of who can share the space with them.
Thank you for your response. How many potential tenants (assignments) should we put forward before we decide to give the landlord 30 days notice that we will be leaving the lease due to the unreasonable withhold of consent? We would obviously would like to part amicably but also feel that it is important to mitigate our costs and the landlords cost. There is a form for the Landlord Tenant Board, would this be the only form we need to fill in regarding ending the lease due to unreasonable withhold of consent. Also, can we stop payment once we send the form to the Landlord Tenant Board?
There is no set amount of tenants.
In fact it can be unreasonable with one.
But if you could find a female student to sub-let I think that should get your daughter off the hook.
I think it's the only form.
Essentially you are not actually supposed to stop paying rent when you decide to but I don't see how else you can manage as you don't want to take him the Board necessarily.
So why not send him a letter, indicate your intentions and tell him the Board can decide if you cannot resolve this.
I think you should call the Board and run the facts by them and find out exactly what you are expected to do.
We have been looking at both male and female, with the emphasis on female. The problem is that even with the females put forward they remaining tenants think they should have final say, when in fact it looks to be the landlord who in fact has the yes or no power in assignments. Our concern is that this will drag on and the remaining tenants will start to use the space as their own and expect us to pay for it, when there should be another tenant in the space. Is it reasonable to say that we will pay until the end of July, with the expectation that I tenant is found and accepted. If none is found then it goes to the board?
I think it's reasonable to say here is a tenant that is adequate, the girls have refused, but the girls are not the landlord, you are Mr. Landlord, so agree to the assignment of the lease or take us to the Board as we are done because a) you are being unreasonable and b) you have a duty to mitigate your damages.
And I don't think this is about time.
I think the first time you have a female student you've done all you need to do.
Experience: Lawyer