Renters should know the rules before leaping into year’s lease with co-tenants
Q: My granddaughter and her friend have begun the search for rental accommodation as they enter their second year of university this fall. They are committed to sharing a rental property and have two other students ready to join them. The rental contracts are for 12 months with most of them allowing for subletting May to August. Are all parties sharing in this arrangement equally responsible for their share of the rent? What happens if one of the tenants drops out of the arrangement with four months left to go on the lease? Are they still liable for their share? Do all parties sign the contract or does only one person assume the responsibility?
A: Typically, all tenants sign a lease for a shared unit. That way there is no ambiguity as to who is renting the unit and who is responsible for payments on it and possible damage to it. In addition, the Ontario standard Residential Tenancy Agreement, which is required for all new residential leases, calls for all tenants to sign.
The Ontario standard lease provides that all tenants are responsible for all tenant obligations in the agreement. That means that if one tenant does not pay his or her share of the rent, or damages the rental unit, the landlord can make any of the tenants on the lease pay for all the arrears or damage.
Likewise, if one tenant leaves without making any arrangements with the landlord, and the remaining tenants damage the rental unit or accumulate rent arrears, the tenant who left the rental unit is still liable for those actions. The only way for one of the tenants to completely remove themselves from any potential liability for matters at their rental unit is for all the tenants to ask the landlord to assign the tenancy from the initial group of tenants to those who remain.
That means tenants who share should be careful who they rent with, and make sure all parties are paying the rent and not damaging the unit.
However, there is no requirement that the rent or utilities be divided evenly among the tenants. For example, if your granddaughter gets a bigger room in the unit than the others, she could agree to pay more rent than the others to compensate. Other roommates make it first-come first-served as to the choice of room, while paying an equal amount of the rent.
Even if one roommate is not a tenant of the landlord, they may be responsible to the others to share the rent after they leave.
That depends on the agreement or implied agreement among the tenants. If there was an explicit agreement, then that would apply to the situation. It would be best to confirm the agreement in writing, such as by sending an email to all the tenants.
Often, roommates do not discuss in advance what is to happen if and when they want to part ways. Then, if there is a dispute they cannot resolve, the Small Claims Court would apply reasonable terms. The court would take into account what was actually said between the people, and their circumstances, to decide what most people would have agreed if they had talked the issues through to an agreement.
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