Each tenant is responsible for all tenant obligations, including paying the full rent

Q: Last year I moved into an apartment with a friend from my hometown. We both signed the lease. Initially, I collected my roommate’s share of the rent and gave it to the landlord each month with my share. Recently, my roommate has been late with his share, so we’ve been paying our shares to the landlord separately. I always pay on time, but he does not. My landlord has warned me about the late rent and I’ve tried to explain that it is my roommate he should be dealing with, but the landlord says it is my problem too. Can my landlord hold me responsible for my roommate’s share of the rent? Will this problem affect my rental reference and credit score?

A: You have good reason to be concerned. It is common for tenants to share apartments to reduce costs. Almost always, landlords require multiple tenants to sign one lease together. Right above the signature lines, the Ontario standard lease states, “Unless otherwise agreed … if there is more than one tenant, each tenant is responsible for all tenant obligations under this agreement, including the full amount of rent.”

In practice, multiple tenants will typically split the cost of the rent, and may even provide their portions of the rent to the landlord individually. In law, however, the landlord has the right to demand the full rent from any single tenant. The landlord is not allowed to collect the rent twice, but if one tenant cannot pay, the landlord may collect the full amount from the other tenant. You may want to insist that your roommate goes back to the original arrangement to ensure that the full rent is paid to the landlord on time.

Tenants are also almost always responsible for other tenants’ defaults under the lease. For example, if one tenant damages the property, the landlord may demand compensation from any of the tenants. If the damage is not repaired and the landlord is not compensated for the cost of repairing the damage, the landlord can serve a notice of termination and apply to the Landlord and Tenant Board to evict and claim the cost of the repairs from all of the tenants.

While it appears from your question that your roommate eventually pays the rent, being persistently late in paying the rent is a ground for eviction at the end of the lease term. If the roommate’s late payments persist, you both will be in danger of being evicted. Furthermore, your roommate’s behaviour may well affect the reference your landlord will provide to any future prospective landlord who seeks a reference.

Any unpaid rent or other amounts owing to the landlord can affect your credit record whether or not those amounts are owed due to your roommate’s behaviour. The landlord can pursue you for any outstanding amounts owed by your roommate. You can claim the amounts from your roommate, but that is not a defence to the landlord’s claim against you unless the “other agreement” was made in your lease.

For these and other reasons, tenants are well advised to be careful in choosing their roommates, and to set up a system to make sure the rent is paid in full and on time regardless of how it is being shared.