How to Fill Out a Toronto Lease Agreement (Without an Agent)

Sometimes the landlord and the tenant already know each other and just want to put an agreement in writing, without bringing in a real estate agent. If that's your situation, this is for you. I want to show you exactly which form to use and how to fill it out, so you don't create a legal headache down the road.

Let's go through the form together. The one you want is called the Residential Tenancy Agreement, or RTA for short. Search "RTA" or "Residential Tenancy Agreement" online and you'll find it. It's editable, so you and the other party can fill it in together right on the document.

Names, the Property, and How to Reach Each Other

The first section is where you write the landlord's name. Below that, you list the tenant's name, and you need to include everyone who's going to live in the unit and whose name belongs on the agreement. Then you fill in the property details: where it is, the postal code, whether parking is included or not, and whether the unit is an apartment, a house, or a townhouse.

On the next page comes the contact information, and this part matters more than people think. If you ever need to serve the tenant or the landlord, or send a legal notice, you have to have listed it here. Communication can be by registered mail, but it can also be by email. Write both email addresses in: the landlord's and the tenant's. If it's not in the form, you can't rely on it later.

Term, Rent, and How It Gets Paid

Next is the term of the agreement: what date the lease starts and what date it ends. With a one-year lease, once the first year is over it automatically goes month to month and renews monthly. You don't need to write anything special for that to happen.

Then you put in the rent amount and which day of the month it's paid, the first, the fifth, whatever you've agreed on. Make sure you check the "monthly" box, otherwise it could read as weekly or bi-weekly. One note here: sometimes parking costs extra. You can write that the parking amount gets added on top of the base rent. You also list who the rent is paid to and how, by cheque or e-transfer. If it's a cheque, this matters because sometimes there are two landlord names on the agreement who don't share a joint account, so the tenant authorizes paying one named person. Cheque, e-transfer, cash, or any other method, write it down.

Utilities: Who Pays for What

In the next section you go through utilities, what's included in the rent and what isn't. Is gas part of the number, or is it paid separately? A simple example: if you're renting out a condo, which of these fall under the maintenance fee and which don't? If you're renting out a basement, you might say the landlord pays everything and the tenant pays, say, one third of the utilities. That has to go in the "provide details about services" part. Spell it out: one third of total utilities is paid by the tenant.

Here's a piece of advice. If the landlord is the one paying the utilities, definitely take a deposit for utility payments so you're not chasing the tenant later. Note that a deposit is being paid, and note who's responsible for what: heat, water, electricity, who covers each one. With older condos a lot of this may fall on the landlord. The newer the condo, the more it tends to shift to the tenant.

Deposits, Keys, and the House Rules

Lower in that section you can again state that utilities are the landlord's responsibility, that the tenant pays and gets a refund against the deposit, and whether there's a rent discount if every payment is on time. Sometimes you want a higher base rent but you're giving a discount. You have to write here that a discount is being given and how much it is.

Then comes the rent deposit: how much it is and which months it covers. If your rent is, say, 2,000 dollars, the deposit they're paying for first and last month would be 4,000 dollars. Write it in. Note whether the unit has a key deposit and how much, and what you're giving keys for: in a condo you might hand over two fobs, keys, a garage remote, a mailbox key. List all of it, because if it's not written here you can't get it back later. Also note the smoking rules, whether smoking is allowed in the unit, and whether the tenant has to carry insurance. Fill in every detail, because anything you leave out, you can't legally go after later.

Pre-Printed Terms, Signatures, and Form 401

After that you'll see a set of terms that are already pre-printed: things like no assignment or subletting without the landlord's permission. Any additional term goes here too. You might state that pets aren't allowed. But I have to tell you: in Ontario you can only restrict pets if the building or condo itself doesn't permit them. Otherwise you can't impose that restriction. You'll also see "change of this agreement," which explains how any change has to be made.

At section seventeen come the signatures, and this is the most important part. Whoever is making the offer signs first. If it's the tenant, they sign and then the landlord signs. This is not an offer to lease, this is the lease agreement itself, and it's completely different from that OREA offer format. After that there are appendices that explain things in detail: how to resolve a dispute, how much notice is needed to terminate, and that if a dispute comes up you go to the Landlord and Tenant Board to resolve it. Every clause is explained in plain language so you understand what's in the contract.

One more tip. You can search online for the Ontario Real Estate Association forms and find one called Form 401. In Form 401 you write any other terms you want to add to this agreement in Schedule A. Anything outside the pre-printed tenancy agreement should always go in as an added appendix.

That's the general rundown on this form. I hope it helped. 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.