LEASING A PROPERTY : UNDERSTANDING THE PROCESS
FINDING YOUR HOME:
One of the first steps when searching for a property is figuring out what suits your needs and desires. Thankfully, I have a form here that helps you understand what are some of the possible options when looking for a home here in Toronto. If you haven’t already, please fill out this form so I can save your information and set you up for a search in your desired area before we start looking for properties. Click the button below to access my form.
1. GATHERING ALL REQUIRED DOCUMENTS
The next step in finding a house for lease is obtaining all the required documents. The reason we obtain all required documents before searching for our home is because properties that we look at may or may not be on the market within the next hour or next day, so its best to stay prepared to submit offers the moment we find the right property. This also ensures that the fewest competing offers are submitted within the timeframe between our application, and closing. You can find the required documents for a rental in the link below.
This agreement outlines our agreement together in order for me to represent you in your search for a property. This outlines the duration of our term and the commission I am owed. For buyers / tenants, the seller / landlord will be paying my commission in full. If during our term you decide to no longer use my services, we will need a mutual release, otherwise, if you use another realtor while under contract, you will be billed for my commissions.
This agreement is an acknowledgement that you will be working with myself and my brokerage Century 21 ATRIA
This is your lease agreement, this outlines your lease, along with the lease terms in Schedule A. Please read carefully the terms and conditions of your lease
This allows the seller / owner to pay my commissions
This outlines the interest paid on your deposit money (if applicable) which the seller will pay to you for holding on to your deposit.
3. OFFER SUBMISSION, ACCEPTANCE & CANCELLATIONS:
After we find a property, I will be drafting an offer to submit to the landlord. The way that this process works is that we will be submitting a signed lease to the landlord with all supporting documents (see above) for the landlord and their agent(s) to review. Depending on the documents submitted, the landlord will either request more information, accept the offer, counter-offer with changes, or decline the offer.
After submission of your Applications, there will be an irrevocable period in which we are bound to the offer. This is usually 24 or 48 hours and is outlined in the Agreement to Lease Section 10. During this period, your offer is unchangeable and the owner can either accept or decline your offer. If the landlord does not accept the offer within the 24 hours period, they can as well send us an offer to lease anytime afterwards, where they will give the tenants an irrevocable offer in which the landlord will be bound to their offer for a certain time. Until an offer is accepted by both within the irrevocable period, no lease is contractually valid.
If the offer is fully signed by both parties, the contract is firm and binding to all parties – no backing out. Breaching a contract can mean legal action from the other party. After the lease is signed, the tenant must complete the finalization of the lease. Please see the section below to find out what needs to be done. the lease is signed, the tenant must complete the finalization of the lease. Please see the section below to find out what needs to be done.
4. AFTER ACCEPTANCE OF AN OFFER:
After your offer is accepted, we then have 24 hours from the point of acceptance to submit our deposit (first and last months rent) to the listing brokerage’s office. Depending on the broker, there are several different ways that this can be done. 6
1. Bank draft submitted directly to broker’s office.
2. Direct deposit (at supporting bank) if the broker’s trust account allows to do so
3. Wire transfer to broker’s trust account, comes with a $30-40 wire transfer charge depending on the bank, and a 2-5 business days wait time
4. E-Transfer (If trust account allows for it)
The method for the deposit will be given to me by the listing brokerage, which I will share with you once I receive the information.
Tenant insurance is required by most landlords by default, the amount of liability insurance, and insurance for personal belongings will be given in the Schedule (A,B or C). You can use any insurance provider, as long as the liability insurance is sufficient.
All required utilities if not covered by the landlord must have their accounts setup in your name. In order to transfer ownership of these accounts, you must register with the city of Toronto or the respective organizations that provide the natural resource.
For Hydro (Electricity) and Water, the usual provider is Toronto Hydro. You can find their website at Toronto Hydro’s website.
For Gas, the usual provider for homes is Enbridge. You can find their website at Enbridge’s website.
All post-dated cheques, key deposits, and security deposits ( if applicable ) will be exchanged with the keys to the rental unit on an arranged date some time between the date the contract is fully initialized and the move-in date. Generally, this is done either on the commencement date or 1-3 days prior to the commencement date of the lease. As well, these cheques will generally by made out to the landlord will be the last and final part of the leasing process. After you receive the keys, congratulations, you’re ready to move into your new home.
5. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Along with the Agreement to lease and Ontario Standard Lease Agreement, there are rules set by the LTB (Landlord and Tenant Board) that all rental agreements must abide by. In order to make sure you being treated fairly and equally under the lease agreement, the Province of Ontario provides rights for tenants and landlords that go above and beyond rental agreements. You can find the information about your rights under the legislation in the link below
