Ontario Standard Form Lease
Effective April 30th, 2018 landlords of most Ontario rental properties will have to use the Ontario Standard Form Lease, developed by the Government to assist landlords and tenants to be more aware of their rights. While the lease and appended notes are full of information for tenants on their rights and how to go about enforcing them, the rights afforded landlords are conspicuously absent from the materials. One of the key features of the lease that can be employed by landlords for example is rental discounting: While Ontario law has always prohibited landlords from charging late fees on rent, a "prompt payment" discount of up to 2% of monthly rent is allowable. Take for example a lease with a monthly rental of $ 2,000: While you cannot charge $2,000 per month with a $ 40 late fee you are allowed to charge $2,040 with a $ 40 discount in each month the rent is paid on time. This accomplishes the same result in that it provides an incentive to pay on time and som