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Selling a Rural Home on a Well and Septic in Ontario: What the Seller Is Actually On the Hook For

Selling a rural Ontario property served by a private well and septic? Most sellers assume the duty is “test, then disclose.” It is not. Ontario’s heaviest requirements on you sit in R.R.O. 1990 Reg. 903: keep the well maintained the whole time you own it (s.20), keep the casing at a compliant height, and abandon any unused old well (s.21). Septic answers to a different regime — the Building Code, with the Ontario Water Resources Act taking over above 10,000 L/day — and whether a mandatory maintenance inspection applies depends on where the property sits, not on the sale. Broker Arthur Zhao separates buyer diligence from seller duty, weighs testing before you list, and hands you a pre-listing checklist.

A Debt That Runs With the House: How a Tenant’s Unpaid Water Bill Becomes the Owner’s Property-Tax Problem in Ontario

You buy a house, close, and months later discover you have inherited an unpaid water bill run up by the previous owner’s tenant. That is not a billing error — it is how Ontario law is built. Water is a service supplied to a property, so the arrears can be added to that property’s tax roll, gain priority lien status under O. Reg. 581/06, and be recovered from the owner at the time it was added and from any subsequent owner. Broker Arthur Zhao walks through the Toronto timeline, the two parallel statutes, and the one due-diligence step that stops it.

Mom Kept a Life Estate, Now the House Has to Sell — Who Actually Decides in Ontario?

It is a common move: parents deed the family home to their adult children but reserve a life estate, so the parent stays a life tenant and the children become remaindermen. Years later the house needs to sell — and suddenly neither side can decide alone. This piece walks through both layers: why the two interests have to merge and everyone has to sign to deliver a clean fee simple, and what happens when someone refuses — Ontario's still-in-force Settled Estates Act, which lets a qualifying party ask the Superior Court to approve a sale. Broker Arthur Zhao also explains why this is not co-ownership and why the Partition Act is the wrong tool.

A Tenant Left Their Stuff Behind in Ontario: When You Can Toss It, and When Tossing It Is Illegal

Your tenant moved out and left furniture, boxes, maybe a fridge full of food — can you just throw it out? In Ontario the answer never turns on the stuff itself; it turns on how the tenancy ended. If it was properly terminated (RTA s.41) you can dispose immediately, with no storage period — except after a Sheriff-enforced eviction, where a 72-hour hold applies. If the tenant simply abandoned the unit while the lease was still running (s.42), you must first get an LTB order or notify both the tenant and the LTB, then wait a full 30 days. Broker Arthur Zhao maps the two routes and the one move that turns a cleanup into an illegal disposal.

You Ran It as an Airbnb for Years. Now You Are Selling. Could 13% HST Land on the Sale Price?

Worried that hosting your home on Airbnb means 13% HST when you sell? For most occasional hosts, it does not. Toronto broker Arthur Zhao walks through the narrow test that actually applies: only when a property has become hotel-like — where all or substantially all of the rental arrangements are continuous stays under 60 days — does it fall outside the Excise Tax Act s.123(1) definition of a residential complex and lose the Schedule V, Part I, s.2 resale exemption. Includes the three thresholds people confuse (60 days, one month, 90%) and what to check before you list. Not tax advice; see a tax advisor for your case.

Why a “No Pets” Clause Is Void in Ontario Leases — and Why That Doesn’t Mean Anything Goes

You wrote “No Pets” into your Ontario lease, the tenant signed it, and now there’s a dog. Can you enforce it? Under RTA s.14 that clause was void from day one — a signature changes nothing. But s.14 killing the clause is not the same as tenants having a free hand: landlords keep a narrow route under s.76 (substantial interference, serious allergic reaction, inherently dangerous animals). Broker Arthur Zhao maps the line for both sides.

RentSafeTO Explained: Which Toronto Buildings Are Covered, How They Are Scored, and What Tenants Can Look Up

Which Toronto apartment buildings actually fall under RentSafeTO — and which do not? The line is three or more storeys AND ten or more units, both at once, so plenty of smaller walk-ups, condos, and houses sit outside it entirely. Ontario real estate broker Arthur Zhao breaks down who has to register, how the City scores qualifying buildings every two years across 50 items, what the green/yellow/red lobby sign means, what tenants can look up on the public map, and what happens to owners who fall short. RentSafeTO is a City of Toronto program under Municipal Code Chapter 354 — not provincial; confirm specifics on toronto.ca.

Deposit Frozen in Trust After a Deal Falls Apart? How Ontario’s Interpleader Process Unfreezes It

Your Ontario deal collapsed, both sides claim the deposit, and it’s stuck in the brokerage’s trust account. Broker Arthur Zhao walks through the interpleader process step by step: why TRESA bars the brokerage from simply paying it out, why a mutual release (OREA Form 122) is tried first, how the deposit holder applies to the Superior Court under Rule 43 to pay the funds into court and let a judge decide, and why “the seller always keeps the deposit” is a myth. Costs and timing vary; this is process education, not legal advice — consult a licensed Ontario lawyer.