Tenant screening세입자 심사 (rental application and checks)

What is it?

Tenant screening is how a landlord (or the landlord’s agent) decides whether to rent to you. You usually fill in a rental application, agree to a credit check, and hand in documents that show your income and rental history.

In Ontario this process is not a free-for-all. The Human Rights Code bans discrimination in housing, and O. Reg. 290/98 under the Code lists exactly what a landlord may use to choose a tenant. Other questions are not allowed.

When a real estate agent is involved, the application is usually OREA’s standard form (the Ontario Real Estate Association’s rental application). The form is for members only, so we do not reproduce it here. When you get it, check that every question fits inside the list of allowed information below.

What a landlord may ask for

• Credit references and rental history (for example, your past landlords’ contact details): either or both. (O. Reg. 290/98, s. 1 (1))
• Your authorization for a credit check: the landlord needs your permission before pulling a report from an agency such as Equifax.
• Income information: but only if the landlord also asks for credit references or rental history. Income cannot be asked for on its own. (s. 1 (3))
• A guarantor: the landlord may require a guarantee for the rent, as long as the same rule applies to every applicant. (s. 2 (1))
• A rent deposit: only a last month’s rent deposit under sections 105 and 106 of the Residential Tenancies Act. No damage deposit, no pet deposit.
• The Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) says that "Regulation 290/98 under the Code permits no other inquiries."

What a landlord may not do

• Refuse you for a reason the Code protects: race, place of origin, colour, ethnic origin, citizenship (including immigration status), creed, sex, sexual orientation, age, marital status, family status (such as having children), disability, or receiving public assistance. (Human Rights Code, s. 2 (1))
• Use an income ratio: a rule such as "rent must not be more than 30% of income" is illegal. The landlord may only check that you have enough income to pay the rent. (OHRC policy)
• Treat a lack of credit or rental history as a bad record: the OHRC says the absence of a credit rating cannot be equated with a bad one. This matters for newcomers, young people and people starting over after a separation.
• Demand an employment history (how long you have been at one job): the OHRC says nothing in Regulation 290/98 allows questions about employment history, and "permanent job only" rules have been found to discriminate.
• Insist on your Social Insurance Number: the OHRC’s position is that landlords should use other ways to run a credit check. You do not have to give your SIN unless it is truly needed.
• Ask only some people for a guarantor or extra deposit: requiring a guarantor just because someone is a newcomer, a lone parent or receives social assistance is discrimination.

What documents are usually needed?

No law sets a document list. The table shows what is commonly asked for in Toronto and the GTA; every landlord is different.

Send only what is needed, and writing "for rental application only" on copies helps stop them being used for anything else.

No Canadian credit history? (newcomers, students)

• No history is not bad history. A landlord who rejects you for that reason is going against OHRC policy. If needed, say so politely.
• Things you can show instead: an employment contract or job letter, a balance letter from your Canadian bank, a school admission letter and proof of tuition paid (students), and reference letters from a landlord or employer abroad (with an English translation).
• A family member or friend in Canada can act as guarantor, but only if the landlord asks every applicant for one under the same rule. The guarantor takes on a real risk of paying.
• Be careful about offering many months of rent up front. The law forbids a landlord from requiring a deposit larger than one month’s rent. Money you pay voluntarily can be hard to get back, so ask a lawyer or a community legal clinic before you do it.
• If you feel you were refused unfairly, you can ask why. If you believe it was discrimination, you can apply to the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, and the Human Rights Legal Support Centre can help.

If you are the landlord

• Ask every applicant for the same documents and judge them by the same standard. Asking only some people for a guarantor or extra paperwork can be evidence of discrimination.
• Run a credit check only after written consent. Look at income together with credit and rental history, and ask only "is the income enough to pay the rent?" Do not use an income ratio.
• Use the personal information only for screening, and keep it safe or destroy it afterwards.
• Once you choose a tenant, use the Ontario standard lease, and collect only a last month’s rent deposit and a refundable key deposit.

Example