As part of a new series, the Star is answering common questions from tenants. Do you have questions about renting in Toronto that you want us to answer? Email the Star at renterFAQ@thestar.ca.

The question:

It’s no secret that living in Toronto is expensive.

And for many, living with another person is a necessity to afford rents that are currently pushing near $2,200 for a one-bedroom and $3,000 for a two-bedroom, according to recent figures from the Toronto Real Estate Board.

But living with other people, whether it’s a roommate or partner situation, can be precarious.

What happens when multiple people sign a lease and one person wants to leave?

The answer:

“We are now living in a way that the Residential Tenancies Act (RTA) didn’t contemplate when it was created,” says Dania Majid, a staff lawyer at Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario (ACTO).

The RTA, which governs landlord/tenant relations in residential tenancy agreements and passed into law in 2007, was created in a time where renters were typically “a married couple, their kids, or an individual that had a one-on-one relationship with the landlord,” Majid said.

In 2019, however, the stakes are different.

“Because we’re in Toronto, because we have an affordable housing crisis, because the rent is so high, we are now living in a way that the RTA didn’t contemplate when it was created,” she said. Increasingly, unmarried couples, groups of friends, or even complete strangers are signing leases together.

This means the act is “pretty much silent” on the subject of co-tenants who wish to break their lease, she says. (She notes there is an exception in that the RTA allows for a person to break joint tenancy to escape a domestic abuse situation).

The most important thing to remember when signing a lease, Majid said, is that it’s a binding legal contract between the tenant and landlord.

“People who enter roommate situations, they might enter it informally. You know, ‘I found someone on Kijiji, I need a place to stay, they have a room,’” she says.

“It might feel like an informal situation, but at the end of the day, if you’re signing a contract with a landlord, you have made an agreement with them and now you’re responsible for that agreement.”

Harry Fine, a paralegal and former adjudicator on the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB), said if a tenant leaves, a landlord has no obligation to take them off the lease. That means if the remaining tenant defaults on rent, then the landlord can go after the person whose name is still on the lease for money.

However, it’s in a tenant’s best interest to be added to the lease because then they’re living in a rent-controlled unit, he said.

“Landlords (are) far better off saying, ‘Hey, you got a roommate. You’re entitled to have a roommate, but I’m not adding them to the lease.’” Fine said.

“If tenants do move in and get added to the lease, and then the original tenant moves out and (the new tenant) brings in a roommate, they’ve still got this really cheap rent from four years ago because they’re protected by the provincial guideline.”

Landlords often try to increase the rent when there is turnover in tenants, he said, but as long as at least one tenant who was on the original lease remains, such increases are illegal.

Because of the lack of specific wording about cases of joint tenancy, navigating this area of landlord/tenant law can involve a lot of negotiation, and outcomes often vary greatly on a case-by-case basis, Majid said.

“It depends on the landlord you’re dealing with and how knowledgeable they are, and what kind of relationship (the tenants) have with each other,” she said.

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While roommate agreements have no legal power, Majid suggested co-tenants should write one amongst themselves prior to moving in to sort out what they will do if anyone leaves to avoid any conflicts.

“Having those discussions in advance, at the start of any sort of joint tenancy, could be an option for people so they are familiar with their rights and responsibilities before they enter this type of arrangement,” she said.

In any case where tenants want to alter the lease, discussing the matter with the landlord is always the best option, Majid said. Some landlords may be willing to make adjustments, but since they have no legal obligations, “it really depends on the landlord and what they’re willing to allow.”

With files from Emma Sandri, Ilya Bañares, Raneem Alozzi and Sherina Harris

Rhianna Jackson-Kelso is a breaking news reporter, working out of the Star’s radio room in Toronto. Follow her on Twitter: @RhiannaJK