April 2nd, 2013
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Successful Landlords Know It’s Important to Know and Follow the Laws and Rules for Running A Rental Business in Ontario
In a February homepage story, the OLA reported on a story of a newcomer to Canada who filed a human rights complaint against a landlord in Mississauga, Ontario.
Rafiqul Islam told the OHRC he wanted to rent from rental property from a landlord in Mississauga, Ontario. He said the Mississauga landlord demanded Islam pay a full year of rent in order to be accepted in to the property.
This is against the Human Rights Commission of Ontario rules.
After seeing an advertisement outside an apartment building at 2365 Confederation Parkway in Mississauga, Islam said he applied for a bachelor apartment and paid a deposit for first and last month’s rent. He used his brother as a co-signer. This was on November 5th, 2010.
Ten days later Islam was told he would have to pay not just ‘first and last’ but the full year of rent. This led Islam to file and human rights complaint. It’s clear the company didn’t know or adhere to the rules which is why it’s important to hire property management companies that do.
In March the human rights complaint was settled.
The owner of the property, Helrit Investments Inc. and Trevi Construction Limited said they regretted what happened.
Helrit Investments Inc. spokesperson Dina Krznaric said her company never had any policy that would lead to newcomers to Canada having to pay one year of rent up front which would contravene the Ontario Human Rights Code.
She continued by stating “Discriminating against people as they are starting to build a new life in this country is most certainly not something our company promotes.”
She also said her company is welcoming to tenants from all over and understands newcomers are protected by the Human Rights Code. Helti would make sure all their employees understand the Human Rights Code and this type of situation would not happen again.
Bruce Best was Islam’s lawyer from the Human Rights Legal Support Centre. Best stated, “While we appreciate Helrit’s cooperation, this remains a wide-spread practice in Ontario and one that must be addressed in a larger way.”
The Ontario Landlords Association agrees with Mr. Best. It’s important for landlords to know laws and rules to run a rental business in Ontario.Knowledge is power and it adds us to a successful business.
To discuss this and other Ontario Landlord and Tenant issues, come to the largest Landlord Forum in Canada.
