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Renting Out a Condo? You Owe One Duty an Ordinary Landlord Doesn’t: Section 83 of the Condominium Act

Renting out a condo means a second set of duties an ordinary landlord never has to think about. Beyond the RTA and the LTB, Ontario’s Condominium Act, 1998 makes you answerable to the condo corporation — and section 83 is the core of it. Toronto broker Arthur Zhao breaks it down clause by clause: within 10 days of signing or renewing a lease you must tell the corporation the unit is leased, give it the tenant’s name, your address, and either a copy of the lease or the Minister’s prescribed summary, and hand your tenant the declaration, by-laws and rules — and if the tenancy ends without renewal you have 10 more days to notify in writing. It covers the three parts owners most often miss, and the real consequences of skipping it: no fixed fine, but a compliance order, costs added to your common expenses, and a lien on your unit.

The Seller Died Before Closing: Is the Signed Deal Still Binding, and Who Completes It?

In Ontario, if your seller dies after signing the agreement but before closing, the deal usually survives — the contract binds the estate, not just the person who signed it. Broker Arthur Zhao explains what really decides whether it still closes on time: how the seller held title (joint tenancy skips probate; sole ownership needs a Certificate of Appointment), who has authority to sign for the estate, the Estate Administration Tax the estate pays, and the buyer’s real options — extend, insist, or walk away. General information, not legal advice.

A Tenant Asks You to Install Grab Bars and a Ramp. As an Ontario Landlord, Can You Say No?

Can an Ontario landlord refuse when a tenant with a disability asks to install grab bars, a ramp, a widened doorway or a visual doorbell — and who ends up paying? Toronto broker Arthur Zhao maps the duty to accommodate under the Human Rights Code: by default the landlord funds the work up to the point of undue hardship, a bar the law measures on just three things — cost, available outside funding, and genuine health and safety requirements. The guide separates repairs a landlord already owes under RTA s.20 from an added accessibility modification, walks through the request-and-consult process, covers who restores the unit at move-out, points to Ontario’s $15,000 HVMP funding, and explains the one-year HRTO deadline versus raising the Code at the LTB. General information, not legal advice — consult a licensed professional.

Selling With an Open Property Standards Order in Ontario: What You Must Disclose, and Can the Buyer Still Walk

A municipal order to comply stops being a matter between you and the city the moment it is registered on title. Building Code Act, 1992, s.15.2(4) is the clause that does it: once the order is in the land registry office it attaches to the property, every later purchaser is deemed served with it as of the original service date, and only a clerk’s discharge certificate clears it off. That one mechanic drives every decision a seller faces next — whether the order has to be volunteered at all (Ontario is largely caveat emptor, though a direct question or a completed SPIS changes the answer), what the buyer’s lawyer can actually do with it during the requisition period, and whether to remediate before closing, price it into the deal, or hold funds back at closing. Toronto’s Municipal Code Chapter 629 supplies the municipal worked example, including the appeal windows and what non-compliance costs. Not legal advice.

When a Sole Tenant Dies: What Ontario Landlords Must Actually Do (and Why It Isn’t an N14)

A sole tenant has died in your Ontario rental — what now? Despite what you may have read, there's no N14 to serve and no application to file with the Landlord and Tenant Board. Under s.91 of the Residential Tenancies Act, the tenancy is deemed terminated 30 days after death, automatically. During those 30 days you must preserve the tenant's belongings (except anything unsafe or unhygienic) and give the estate's executor, administrator, or a family member reasonable access. This guide covers when the tenancy ends, your duty to safeguard property, dealing with next of kin versus the estate representative, rent and deposit, and what N14 is actually for.

Smoke and CO Alarms When You Sell in Ontario: What the Fire Code Actually Requires, and Whose Job It Is

There is no Ontario law that says you must install alarms before you sell. The Fire Code (O. Reg. 213/07) puts smoke and CO alarm installation and upkeep on the owner, as a continuous duty. Here is what it requires, read against your own home, where it surfaces in a sale, and what non-compliance actually exposes you to.

How to Check a Home’s Past in Ontario: Permits, Sales, Insurance Claims and Title

There is no Carfax for houses — so how do you check a home’s past before you buy in Ontario? This buyer’s guide sorts the background check by how reachable each record is: the public title record (owner, transfers, mortgages, liens and writs on the OnLand parcel register), building permits you have to request from the city (and the open-permit trap), MLS sale and listing history through your agent, and the one trail you mostly cannot get — the prior owner’s insurance claims. Includes a one-page what-to-check / where / who / cost checklist, plus where seller disclosure law actually draws the line. Fees per current OnLand and municipal schedules; statute verified 2026-08-06. Not legal advice.

Upsizing in Ontario: The Real Cash You Need to Move Up, Line by Line

Moving up is not just selling one home and buying another. Toronto broker Arthur Zhao breaks the upsize into four cash buckets — selling costs, land transfer tax (double-taxed inside Toronto), bridge financing, and carrying two homes — and runs one worked example so you know the cash to set aside before you list.