Sharing Tool

Back when I was considering my options, one important question was whether in my new situation - renting from an outgoing tenant - I was still covered by the Rental Tenancies Act or not. I had some working knowledge of the law, but I wanted to be sure, so I used a tool created specifically for this purpose and also listed in Resources: the Sharing Tool.

Here's how that went.

0. The Start page explains what this is and how it works:

"It can be hard to find out what your rights and responsibilities will be when you share rental accommodation with another person. There are many different kinds of arrangements and different sets of laws that apply to them. This web tool will help you figure out which laws apply to your situation and what your rights and responsibilities are."

1. After clicking start, I got the following question:

Q1 - sharing?

This was simple. I was going to sublet (or fully rent) for my own purposes, the original Lessee was abandoning his tenancy, I was going to live alone, this was a self-contained bachelor unit, there was no sharing involved.

2. Clicking "NO" above took me to this page:

Second question and my answer

This question seems to try to determine whether the original Lessee still lives on the premises or not. Unless you read the explanation (which I did), one might be tempted to answer Yes, because the original Tenant / Lessee was or used to be a Tenant. But reading the explanation it becomes quite obvious that the answer is NO. In particular, our situation cannot be described by either alternatives under "Answer Yes if" for the simple reason that the original Lessee does not live in the same rental unit, has left and completely abandoned his Tenancy by serving a Termination Notice on the Landlord, at the latter's request. The option I circled above, which describes our situation most closely, seems to suggest that by renting to me and abandoning his tenancy, the original Lessee has become a commercial tenant, transferring ("assigning") his residential lease to me.

3. NO took me to another step in my journey to the ultimate truth:

Q3: Separate agreement?

This is easy. There is no group to join, I live completely alone. The way the choices are presented, it seems that my moving in has created an implicit agreement with the Landlord, who was demonstrably told about my moving in and with whom I even engaged in rent negotiations. However, this may be seen differently by the adjudicator, so I also considered a negative answer below, at (6).

4. I seem to be approaching the end:

Final Q (my 4, their 6)

Again, it is obvious that no roommates rent from me. Between the two questions, NO is the best choice.

5. The result is Situation A or "Group of Individual Tenants":

Group of Individual Tenants (the Result)

6. Let us now briefly consider the possibility that the "separate agreement" question would be seen differently by the LTB adjudicator. Going back to (3) and answering NO (i.e., assuming I do not have a separate agreement of my own), the result becomes Situation B or "Group of Co-tenants":

Result or Situation B: Group of co-tenants

Either way, I seem to benefit from all the rights conferred by the law - only the responsibilities might be slightly different:

Situation A

Because you each have separate tenancies:

Situation B

If you are a co-tenant:

  • you are each responsible to the landlord for your own actions and payment of your own rent; and

  • any of you can terminate your own tenancy without affecting the right of the others to stay.

  • You will likely be responsible for the entire rent for the place if the others do not pay their share of the rent, unless you specifically agree otherwise with the landlord.

  • If one of the other co-tenants causes damage, you may be responsible to pay for that damage, unless you specifically agree otherwise with the landlord.

  • If one of the other co-tenants does something that is a reason for eviction in the RTA, the landlord may apply to the Landlord and Tenant Board to evict all of you. Note: The law is not clear on this. Get legal advice.

  • If all the co-tenants want to move out, you can give proper notice to the landlord together to terminate the tenancy.

  • If one co-tenant wants to move out, that person could give proper written notice to the landlord. The law is not clear about whether this would mean the other tenants would also have to leave. But, if one co-tenant just leaves without giving any notice, then that person might continue indefinitely to be liable for the rent and other obligations. It is best if the person leaving can reach an agreement with the other co-tenants and the landlord.

NOTE: This area of the law is very complicated and you should get legal advice from a lawyer or legal clinic. For more information on getting legal help, see the Legal Resources section of this web site.

Other possible outcomes of the tool include Situation C or Commercial Tenant, Situation D or Licensee, and Situation E or Head Tenant. Finally, if you're wondering why would anyone trust "something off the Internet" - here's more info about this tool and who made it, from its "About" section:

After going through it, I was convinced (and still am) that I enjoy the full protection of the RTA and that Situation A, "separate tenancies" applies to me.