Platty

My best friend and her husband have just landed in Canada, specifically Burlington, ON. She just emailed me and told me that we will need at least 4 months rent to get a place of our own + Job. Now I understand about the job but 4 MONTHS RENT?? :scared:

Is that normal?

iaink

Actually its illegal. If I remember "first and last" is the norm, and you should get interest paid on that. First is the first month up front, and last is the one month deposit they are legally allowed to keep to pay the last months rent in case of arrears. Of course pointing out that you know the law on this may not endear you to them as a potential tenant


http://www.settlement.org/sys/guides...faq_id=4000484
Deposits and extra charges
Before I moved in, my landlord asked for a rent deposit. Is this legal?

Yes. But if you pay your rent by the month, the deposit can be no more than one month's rent. And if you pay your rent by the week, it can be no more than one week's rent. Your landlord can use this deposit only as a rent payment for the last month or week that you live in your unit. Your landlord cannot keep it for any other reason, such as paying for damage or cleaning.


Your landlord can also ask you to pay a deposit for your keys or access card, but the amount cannot be more than it would cost to replace them. All other deposits are illegal.


Sometimes landlords say that if you want to get the apartment, you must buy something in it, such as curtains or appliances, or that you must pay a damage deposit, rental fee, or commission. This is illegal. Always get a receipt when you pay a rent deposit or any other charge. Also, make sure to get a receipt each time you pay your rent. The law says that your landlord must give you a receipt if you ask for one. A receipt can be helpful in any dispute with your landlord. Receipts can also be useful when you do your income taxes.

Is my landlord supposed to pay me interest on my rent deposit?

Your landlord must pay you 6% interest once a year on your rent deposit. If your landlord does not pay you this interest, you can deduct it from your rent. But any time your rent goes up, you may have to add to your rent deposit so that it will still be the same amount as your rent.

What can I do about an illegal deposit or charge?

If you have paid an illegal deposit or charge, you can apply to the Tribunal to get the money back. You must apply within one year of the date your landlord overcharged you. After a year, you may lose your right to get the money back.

mikejw

Hi
we had to pay 6 MONTHS rent + deposit here in the UK because we were emigrating to Canada!

Mike.

Platty

Hi Mike,

I'm confused, do you mean you had to pay 6 months rent + deposit on a place in the UK?

If that is the case I have to say that's never happened to me.

Platty

Thanks for that I've just emailed my friend and told her.

Glaswegian

It may be the law but doesnt mean landlords do it that way in reality. We were asked for first and last initially, when we came up with that the landlord changed it to 6 months in advance. When we said we had that he changed it to 12 months in advance! We said OK - he said "actually I just dont want immigrants!"

One of the many reasons we are in Calgary and not Ontario.

Mrs G

Platty

Ekkk not good. What do they have against immigrants?

Platty

How easy is it to buy property, bearing in mind we will both have zero credit rating?

Glaswegian

Its probably the flight risk combined with a lack of Canadian rental refs. You have no ties in Canada, no property, possibly no car. If it gets tough the first response for many is to leave. Plus landlords are probably more aware than the new immigrant of just how hard it can be for someone newly landed to get a job!

Mrs G

Glani

Hi speaking of getting jobs, im a bank manager over here but have no official banking qualifications on paper, are they really adamant on certificates over there or will refs be ok ?


Glani

Glaswegian

The one who caused is the real trouble was just a complete jerk ... nothing more, nothing less ... you get them everywhere

Tiaribbon

VERY easy!!

Glaswegian

We didnt find it that hard. The credit rating was irrelevant. You just need a big (35%) deposit, six months mortgage payment/prop tax bonded with the bank and confidence in yourself that you can choose an area you will want to live in three years down the road. You also need to be sure you can meet the mortgage payments if you dont get your chosen career going again.

Bear in mind that selling fees are higher in Canada than in the UK - for example I beleive typical commission would be 6+2 (6% on the first $100K and 2% on the balance) plus other associated fees.

Some people put down as much as they have in dollars - others keep themselves to the 35% and stash the cash for when it all goes wrong. It depends on your view of how it is likely to go.

Just be prepared for your capital to drain very quickly.

You have to live somewhere - we took the view that we would buy a house very early on (but we had landed!) with the idea it would help the children to settle. Plus we had already had a bad experience on finding rental property.

After three and a half years we are still in the same house. We look around every now and again for something else and come to the conclusion we dont really want to move. I comes down to knowing what you want from a house and we had a very good idea of what we needed.

Mrs G

iaink

Hopefully you are joking right? If not then its time to wake up and smell the coffee. You will find it very hard with no formal qualifications, no one is going to go to the trouble of checking out international references, and as banking law is probably different on the two sides of the atlantic I doubt it would make any difference if they did.

dingbat

You can't even work as a bank teller in my province....you have to have several levels of qualifications on paper to work in a bank. Your experience will count for not a bean, references or no references. I hope you are in the early stages of looking! Sorry to be another bearer of bad news.