How to Find a Good Tenant in Toronto

Being a landlord in Toronto is not easy. You can ask anyone who rents out a home, or look at the numbers. Last year there were about 50,000 complaints and cases where tenants did not pay rent. So let me walk through what to do and what to watch for so you do not end up with a bad tenant. I am Moe Asgarian, a senior real estate broker in Toronto, ranked number 47 worldwide at RE/MAX.

First, my advice is to rent your home with the help of a skilled agent. But if you decide to choose the tenant yourself, here are the things I do in my own work to help you find the right one and avoid getting cheated.

Watch for pressure and rushing

One sign of a problem tenant is that they do not give you enough time to check them. For example, they send the form Saturday morning at the start of the weekend, say their situation is urgent, ask you to review their documents fast, and need to move in Monday morning. That is a red flag. You simply cannot verify their documents and references over the weekend. Especially in months when renting out a home is hard and you want to fill it quickly, make sure you check everything carefully and do not stay under the tenant's pressure.

Verify work and income documents

Check the employment documents. Read the pay stub line by line, see where the workplace is, and make sure the person you call who claims to be the tenant's manager really is. It is very easy to give a friend's number and have them pose as a manager. Confirm everything is genuine and in order.

Check the credit report carefully

The third thing to watch closely is the credit score report. You look at it and everything seems perfect, but documents can be tampered with. With care, you can spot which fonts were altered, and you should do a little arithmetic to make sure the income and expenses add up. A faked score is a sign of big trouble ahead. What we always do for every client is take the rental application from the tenant and their agent to our own office, pay for it, and pull the tenant's credit ourselves. That way we see the real report. If it matches what they sent, we move to the next step.

Verify references and the previous landlord

Another thing we always check is the previous landlord's report. Make sure the person you are talking to really is that tenant's landlord and that it is not staged. As I mentioned in earlier videos, often the current landlord wants to get rid of the tenant and praises them heavily, so do not take every compliment as proof the tenant is good. What we do is go to the landlord before that, try to find them, and check the MLS listings used for realtor tours to confirm the addresses they named were actually rented. We use multiple references to be sure.

Bulk tenants and work history

A newer phenomenon many have experienced is bulk tenants. These are people who apply for 10 or 20 homes at once, submit documents, and pick whichever gets approved. The problem is they were never going to rent yours, they apply in bulk and snag one. Make sure you are not one of their targets. Maybe they worked two places in one period, or had a long unexplained gap. Make sure everything is tidy and the sequence of jobs lines up. If you'd like a straight answer for your own situation, fill out the form below and book a free consultation. Stay well and take care.

Check social media

The seventh and last check is social media. I do not mean prying into private lives, but many people post their lives publicly. You can see how they lived in their last home: was it quiet or were ten people living together, how were their parties, and most importantly what does their LinkedIn history show. All of this helps you find a good, trouble free tenant. My team and I at Team Asgarian find tenants for many clients every month and help them get good ones. If you'd like a straight answer for your own situation, fill out the form below and book a free consultation. Stay well and take care.