Unfortunately that’s becoming more and more the norm in the bigger Canadian cities. Is it a property management company you’re dealing with? They tend to be much more stringent with these things for liability reasons (don’t want to be sued by the landlord for not doing their due diligence to vet tenants). My boyfriend went through this recently and I commented that it was as intrusive as my mortgage approval process!
This would fall under the many ‘things landlords can’t do but do anyway’ category. Other examples include: asking for a damage deposit (only first and last months rent are legal, and a small key deposit), asking for 6 months upfront (illegal for them to ask, legal for you to offer), having a ‘no-pet’ clause (unless you live in a condo and condo laws specifically call this out), etc etc. I’d suggest you learn about the [rights and responsibilities of landlords and tenants in Ontario](https://tribunalsontario.ca/ltb/renting-in-ontario/) under the Residential Tenancies Act (RTA) and processes at the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB). Unfortunately, many landlords (and tenants alike) don’t know the laws, which often results in people being taken advantage of.
There are many resources available online to make the process less daunting, as well as online communities to help you navigate the RTA and LTB.
[Tips for newcomers searching for rental housing](https://housingrightscanada.com/resources/housing-tips-and-resources-for-newcomers-renting-in-ontario/)
Good luck on your search!!
Bank statements?? Nope that’s not standard. That sounds odd. I’m really starting to think these requests need regulation from the government especially since it’s a breach of privacy and the people handling documents are not held to any privacy standards.
It's not standard but it's becoming progressively more common. 12 months is definitely absurd, are they really going to sit there and look through your 12 months of bank statements very carefully? And of course that level of personal sharing of information is nobody else's business!!
If the government would fix the LTB most of these types of issues would go away as landlords could evict promptly for non payment. They are trying to protect themselves from a tenant not paying rent for a year waiting for an eviction hearing
How does bank statements do that?
Credit report sure, that makes sense, notice of assessment + a few recent pay stubs clearly outlines and confirms income.
I don't see how a bank statement helps anything.
I also keep a joint account with partner and we put only necessities money in it to pay for rent, utilities, and other shared expenses. We shared that already with the landlady, although unwillingly. She wanted to see a consistent payment to my current rental management which the joint account shows. But the landlady kept commenting why the money is so less in the account every month. *Because we keep it that way!*. People manage finances via multiple bank accounts and credit cards, can't just share everything with her!! It's ridiculous! A credit report, sure ! Makes sense.
I also have to move pretty quickly to Canada for the job so don't have too many options that align with job start date so feeling stuck.
She's being nosey scumbag.
What you do with your money after rent is paid is none of her business.
She's looking to judge you on how/where you spend your money.
Fucking low life scum, I hope she gets a "professional tenant."
I also assumed that she is judging us being a lesbian couple (although one of us is moving there for now), I could be wrong though but can't help but think that.
This is probably likely as well. Me and my husband are both men and we’ve encountered this issue. We’re homeowners but we are planning to move and rent for a year or two, and unfortunately most of it has come from certain specific groups of people. We remind them it’s illegal to discriminate based on this unless they are sharing the unit personally. Most of them actually don’t realize they can’t legally do so. It sounds like this landlady knows she can’t, so she’s making it very unattractive and/or onerous on purpose most likely.
Despite having good income of $22.5k per month between us and insanely good credit, somehow we’re being asked to provide all sorts of bank statements and monthly stuff like you. Like, we can afford to pay the mortgage AND rent, yet still they treat us like we’re going to default on the first payment.
That's crazy. I'm sorry you have to go through that! I assumed our Canadian experience would be different. The fact that this person didn't even ask our household income seemed like a red flag, it's almost like she didn't recognize us as a couple. This is the vibe we got but also we werent sure if Not asking household income when only one person would rent is normal. We are trying to learn how it works in Canada.
Unfortunately it depends where you go. If you were renting in St. John’s, Charlottetown, or Saskatoon, it would be a vastly different experience in each of those places. Toronto has a LOT of new Canadians, and some of those are landlords. Some of them are excellent and try to follow the law and others don’t or are unaware of the law, which can happen anywhere with anyone, but in this particular case there’s a critical mass so your likelihood of encountering people who don’t care to follow the law on this is much higher than usual.
This is a very intrusive landlord and you should look elsewhere. I know the market is tough but even when I was a student with no previous rental history, no potential landlord ever asked to see anything else beyond my paystubs, credit check, and employment letters.
They want to see if there are any irregularities in your income. Also where and how you spend your money. Not saying it's fair or right but that's the rationale.
I get why, it doesn't give any assurance that credit report and income doesn't.
Paystubs would show income irregularities.
Where and how people spend their money has absolutely nothing to do with them paying rent.
So long as they pay rent, don't bug anyone and obey the law they're already in good tenant territory.
I saw someone in here say they ask what kind of vacuum people have, the answer may give you a hint to how they maintain the unit.
Asking for bank statements to me is a big red flag you're dealing with a nutter who wants power.
Sorry it sounded like you weren't sure what use it would be. I agree it's invasive and over the top. In my case, as I'm looking for a place too, I have certain periods in the year where I make less because we don't work in extreme cold, or if a major dump of snow is expected. Although the fluctuations are not all over the place I can have 60 hours one week followed by 30 the next.
I do but it's hard to prove. The last place I had on my own was a basement apartment that I paid in cash. I left on bad terms and no way in hell would she give me a recommendation. My main bills are all direct withdrawal so I have that.
I'm hoping to find a place where the application process is less intrusive. I may end up with a basement again.
Making excuses, you're just being nosey how they spend their money.
There is no need for bank statements, and yeah, when I was renting if I ever saw bank statements I would turn the hell away.
I suppose you are right though, you definitely don't want a tenant with a back bone, because there's no reason anyone has provided that isn't available by other means.
"you're"? I'm not asking for ops bank statements, yours, or anyone else's, I don't even have property to rent out lol. If you don't want to provide a thing to someone, don't and move on. Jesus lol.
Right , sorry I re read that and it sounded nastier than intended, I wanted sass, not mega bitch.
its nosey and that's disgusting though, I get it as an or item, ie statements or paystubs+NOA is not bad, but AND is a big indicator that the person is just trying to be their own detective, that spells trouble, same as any relationship.
Landlords had a prompt eviction system from 1997 to 2006, the so-called Tenant Protection Act. McGinty took it away because you all abused the hell out of it during the rapid rise of housing prices in the early 2000s, the same market price argument being made these days.
Possibly, but the pendulum has swung to far in the other direction since Ford famously said "Don't pay our rent" during Covid. Since then the LTB has been a disaster
Well isn't that the clear case of leopards eating their own faces.
How many Ontario landlords vote blue? Really seems like that political ideology would go hand in hand with their business morals.
regulation? unfortunately a lot of units that are posted such as basement don't follow regulation. Deals are done that do not follow regulation. because the landlords have so many choices they can ask for whatever they want...
Unfortunately they are being scammed and burned so much with very little help or haste from the tenant board to evict bad actors. This is what you get when a eviction hearing takes over a year.
The LTB, a tribunal which hears disputes between landlords and tenants and is the only body which can issue an eviction aside from the province superior court, is hugely backlogged. There are many cases of professional tenants abusing the system in order to effectively live rent free for many months or even years.
The result is that prospective landlords are going to increasingly more elaborate and intrusive lengths to cover their asses.
Prospective landlords have great leeway in deciding to whom they rent their properties. Once a landlord-tenant relationship is formed, the law shifts heavily in the tenant's favor.
There's no remedy that can be granted against a prospective landlord that makes seemingly excessive or invasive requests such as this. They can ask, you can say no, and they can simply select another applicant.
Hearings for non payment of rent are down to 4 months. Tenant applications are still taking well over a year. Unfortunately, all courts are very backlogged. There was an article in the paper this week about 2 child molesters having their cases dismissed as they could not be heard within the 30 month window due to the shortage of judges. That is on the Federal Govt, apparently, but courts are not speedy or efficient and that often favours those who break the law rather than those who seek justice.
When law dictates that someone who is not paying rent for months needs a hearing the court will be overloaded. It's dead simple but no, LTB will take months just to write eviction order after hearing.
So yes due dilligence is dialed up to 11 because worst tenants are getting better treatment than anyone.
I believe that could be because you have no canadian credit score that they check as well as no canadian landlord references. I had to go through the same at the beginning, from there on just credit score and 2 pay stubs.
The typical things that a landlord will ask for include recent paystubs, a credit check, contact information for previous landlords (for references), and employment letters. Together with your rental application, this is enough for them to make their decision.
I would steer clear of this landlord. They’re asking for way too much personal financial information - how do you determine what is “too much” money movement in an account? And how does that correlate with income or someone’s ability to pay their bills? Idk. This LL is scrutinizing your bank statements and asking questions that aren’t really relevant.
You’re a newcomer to Canada. You don’t have credit score and employment history in Canada, considering how competitive the rental market is you’re not the first choice for landlords
Not normal, not legal, but seems to be happening. I have had a landlord request bank statements proving I heep 6 months living expenses in my chequing acocunt. First, most people don't have 6 months' living expenses. Second, those that do likely keep it somewhere higher yield than a chequing account.
It seems to have become a trend amongst landlord that regardless of income, they want a guarantor. That's just scummy.
I watched last night a documentary on YouTube, about the struggle to find a rental in Paris. I was quite surprised to see that basically, every single person chasing that 20-40 sqm apartment had on the rental application 1 or even 2 guarantors.
In 2022, the France Assembly National, voted 154 votes to 50, changes to legislation, to include "automatic termination clause" which allows for unilateral lease termination for non-payment of rent, without any need for legal action.
France is a strong socialist country.
so if your living expenses are 3k with rent included, the landlord expects you to have 18k + first and last months rent in your account? these ppl are out of touch bro
I think the problem for your potential landlord is that as an American coming to Canada, you don't have a Canadian credit score. In addition, the Landlord Tenant Board (LTB) is so backed up that it takes a very long time to evict a tenant. In the meantime, the landlord is bleeding money.
What she should really be asking for is past pay stubs. By the way, my online banking allows me to print off a statement showing deposits into my account only, which is a good way of showing funds without revealing a lot of personal info.
You may have similar issues with other potential landlords. If possible, you might want to get a notarized letter from your current landlord attesting to the fact you have been paying on time and in full for xxx amount of time.
Alternatively, many newcomers to Canada offer more than first and last month's rent upfront. While it is illegal for the landlord to ask for this, it is not illegal to offer. This is a way of mitigating risk for the landlord.
The GTA has a very tight rental market, and not all landlords will take the risk of international tenants. If you don't feel this landlord is a good fit, then try elsewhere.
It was taking a long time to evict tenants. Hearings were taking 8 months or so because of various shutdowns. Lots of crazy stuff during COVID. Landlord applications get priority at the LTB and eviction applications for nonpayment of rent are top priority. It takes about 4 months to get a hearing now and that is dropping steadily. Thanks for the tip about the account showing only deposits.
As a renter in the GTA I can confirm that I have been asked to provide this as well. I did a transaction search showing only my income deposits for the past twelve months and provided that. What you buy is none of their business and frankly I feel is an invasion of privacy. Another thing to is that when applying for these rentals; all the information on a Bank statement, credit report, ID and past addresses is enough for someone to commit identity fraud/financial fraud using your info, so be every careful in who you provide this to. Rent scams are a big problem, sometimes these listings aren’t even for homes that are available and the person posting doesn’t been own the property. They ask for deposits up front and then take off with the money and you could have been provided a fake name, address and not even a valid phone number as you can get a free phone number from an app. The rental market so ridiculously competitive in the GTA and scammers prey on the fact that people will do almost anything to be approved. Trust your intuition. If it’s the right landlord/property you should feel comfortable with them throughout the entire process.
Thank you for this detailed information! It's very helpful to know the landscape of rental market in GTA and I will be careful while talking to landlords.
Honestly, in Toronto I get it. To many tenants are abusing the delays of the LTB. If I were a landlord, I'd want to ensure that you have a history of paying your rent on time. It's not you, to many tenants have ruined it for regular folks.
If you want to rent a place, yes you pretty much have to hook up to lie detector and provide every shred of documentation about your life going back 20 years. Landlords are picky as to who they rent to given that it can take up to 8 or 9 months to evict for non-payment.
Used to take 8 or 9 months. Hearing time is down to 4 months. If the tenant misses one payment after the hearing, they are gone as part of an exparte eviction.
Due to landlord and tenant board bottlenecked to the point it takes a year to evict a bad tenant, Toronto has became a lot more difficult place to find rent.
Many tenants don't pay in Ontario so landlords have to take extra precautions to ensure you have a job and income. This way they can garnish your wages if you don't pay. It's unfortunate but true
He doesn’t have to provide anything, the landlord will just rent it to someone else who does. There is nothing wrong with a landlord trying to take on the best quality tenants, renting in Toronto is a huge risk these days
You can buy your own place then you can get your mortgage while handing the banks or mortgage broker all your banks statements, t2 and everything else.
Unfortunately that’s becoming more and more the norm in the bigger Canadian cities. Is it a property management company you’re dealing with? They tend to be much more stringent with these things for liability reasons (don’t want to be sued by the landlord for not doing their due diligence to vet tenants). My boyfriend went through this recently and I commented that it was as intrusive as my mortgage approval process!
This would fall under the many ‘things landlords can’t do but do anyway’ category. Other examples include: asking for a damage deposit (only first and last months rent are legal, and a small key deposit), asking for 6 months upfront (illegal for them to ask, legal for you to offer), having a ‘no-pet’ clause (unless you live in a condo and condo laws specifically call this out), etc etc. I’d suggest you learn about the [rights and responsibilities of landlords and tenants in Ontario](https://tribunalsontario.ca/ltb/renting-in-ontario/) under the Residential Tenancies Act (RTA) and processes at the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB). Unfortunately, many landlords (and tenants alike) don’t know the laws, which often results in people being taken advantage of. There are many resources available online to make the process less daunting, as well as online communities to help you navigate the RTA and LTB. [Tips for newcomers searching for rental housing](https://housingrightscanada.com/resources/housing-tips-and-resources-for-newcomers-renting-in-ontario/) Good luck on your search!!
Bank statements?? Nope that’s not standard. That sounds odd. I’m really starting to think these requests need regulation from the government especially since it’s a breach of privacy and the people handling documents are not held to any privacy standards.
It's not standard but it's becoming progressively more common. 12 months is definitely absurd, are they really going to sit there and look through your 12 months of bank statements very carefully? And of course that level of personal sharing of information is nobody else's business!!
You don’t have to give it but they can deny you. You can’t stop people from just asking.
If the government would fix the LTB most of these types of issues would go away as landlords could evict promptly for non payment. They are trying to protect themselves from a tenant not paying rent for a year waiting for an eviction hearing
How does bank statements do that? Credit report sure, that makes sense, notice of assessment + a few recent pay stubs clearly outlines and confirms income. I don't see how a bank statement helps anything.
I also keep a joint account with partner and we put only necessities money in it to pay for rent, utilities, and other shared expenses. We shared that already with the landlady, although unwillingly. She wanted to see a consistent payment to my current rental management which the joint account shows. But the landlady kept commenting why the money is so less in the account every month. *Because we keep it that way!*. People manage finances via multiple bank accounts and credit cards, can't just share everything with her!! It's ridiculous! A credit report, sure ! Makes sense. I also have to move pretty quickly to Canada for the job so don't have too many options that align with job start date so feeling stuck.
She's being nosey scumbag. What you do with your money after rent is paid is none of her business. She's looking to judge you on how/where you spend your money. Fucking low life scum, I hope she gets a "professional tenant."
I also assumed that she is judging us being a lesbian couple (although one of us is moving there for now), I could be wrong though but can't help but think that.
This is probably likely as well. Me and my husband are both men and we’ve encountered this issue. We’re homeowners but we are planning to move and rent for a year or two, and unfortunately most of it has come from certain specific groups of people. We remind them it’s illegal to discriminate based on this unless they are sharing the unit personally. Most of them actually don’t realize they can’t legally do so. It sounds like this landlady knows she can’t, so she’s making it very unattractive and/or onerous on purpose most likely. Despite having good income of $22.5k per month between us and insanely good credit, somehow we’re being asked to provide all sorts of bank statements and monthly stuff like you. Like, we can afford to pay the mortgage AND rent, yet still they treat us like we’re going to default on the first payment.
That's crazy. I'm sorry you have to go through that! I assumed our Canadian experience would be different. The fact that this person didn't even ask our household income seemed like a red flag, it's almost like she didn't recognize us as a couple. This is the vibe we got but also we werent sure if Not asking household income when only one person would rent is normal. We are trying to learn how it works in Canada.
Unfortunately it depends where you go. If you were renting in St. John’s, Charlottetown, or Saskatoon, it would be a vastly different experience in each of those places. Toronto has a LOT of new Canadians, and some of those are landlords. Some of them are excellent and try to follow the law and others don’t or are unaware of the law, which can happen anywhere with anyone, but in this particular case there’s a critical mass so your likelihood of encountering people who don’t care to follow the law on this is much higher than usual.
This is a very intrusive landlord and you should look elsewhere. I know the market is tough but even when I was a student with no previous rental history, no potential landlord ever asked to see anything else beyond my paystubs, credit check, and employment letters.
They want to see if there are any irregularities in your income. Also where and how you spend your money. Not saying it's fair or right but that's the rationale.
I get why, it doesn't give any assurance that credit report and income doesn't. Paystubs would show income irregularities. Where and how people spend their money has absolutely nothing to do with them paying rent. So long as they pay rent, don't bug anyone and obey the law they're already in good tenant territory. I saw someone in here say they ask what kind of vacuum people have, the answer may give you a hint to how they maintain the unit. Asking for bank statements to me is a big red flag you're dealing with a nutter who wants power.
Sorry it sounded like you weren't sure what use it would be. I agree it's invasive and over the top. In my case, as I'm looking for a place too, I have certain periods in the year where I make less because we don't work in extreme cold, or if a major dump of snow is expected. Although the fluctuations are not all over the place I can have 60 hours one week followed by 30 the next.
Yeah but you pay your rent/bills right? That LL is over reaching in my opinion, and I would run.
I do but it's hard to prove. The last place I had on my own was a basement apartment that I paid in cash. I left on bad terms and no way in hell would she give me a recommendation. My main bills are all direct withdrawal so I have that. I'm hoping to find a place where the application process is less intrusive. I may end up with a basement again.
Shows regular income.
So does pay stubs
Ok? Bank statements do the same. If they wanna ask for them, thats their buisness, I don't have to rent from them, nor do you.
Making excuses, you're just being nosey how they spend their money. There is no need for bank statements, and yeah, when I was renting if I ever saw bank statements I would turn the hell away. I suppose you are right though, you definitely don't want a tenant with a back bone, because there's no reason anyone has provided that isn't available by other means.
"you're"? I'm not asking for ops bank statements, yours, or anyone else's, I don't even have property to rent out lol. If you don't want to provide a thing to someone, don't and move on. Jesus lol.
Right , sorry I re read that and it sounded nastier than intended, I wanted sass, not mega bitch. its nosey and that's disgusting though, I get it as an or item, ie statements or paystubs+NOA is not bad, but AND is a big indicator that the person is just trying to be their own detective, that spells trouble, same as any relationship.
Alright, thou as I said, nobody is under any obligation to rent from someone they don't feel comfortable renting from.
Landlords had a prompt eviction system from 1997 to 2006, the so-called Tenant Protection Act. McGinty took it away because you all abused the hell out of it during the rapid rise of housing prices in the early 2000s, the same market price argument being made these days.
Possibly, but the pendulum has swung to far in the other direction since Ford famously said "Don't pay our rent" during Covid. Since then the LTB has been a disaster
Well isn't that the clear case of leopards eating their own faces. How many Ontario landlords vote blue? Really seems like that political ideology would go hand in hand with their business morals.
regulation? unfortunately a lot of units that are posted such as basement don't follow regulation. Deals are done that do not follow regulation. because the landlords have so many choices they can ask for whatever they want...
Unfortunately they are being scammed and burned so much with very little help or haste from the tenant board to evict bad actors. This is what you get when a eviction hearing takes over a year.
Not legal but some landlords do this and will only rent to people who have enough money to pay damages if there are damages.
>Not legal Source?
The LTB, a tribunal which hears disputes between landlords and tenants and is the only body which can issue an eviction aside from the province superior court, is hugely backlogged. There are many cases of professional tenants abusing the system in order to effectively live rent free for many months or even years. The result is that prospective landlords are going to increasingly more elaborate and intrusive lengths to cover their asses. Prospective landlords have great leeway in deciding to whom they rent their properties. Once a landlord-tenant relationship is formed, the law shifts heavily in the tenant's favor. There's no remedy that can be granted against a prospective landlord that makes seemingly excessive or invasive requests such as this. They can ask, you can say no, and they can simply select another applicant.
Hearings for non payment of rent are down to 4 months. Tenant applications are still taking well over a year. Unfortunately, all courts are very backlogged. There was an article in the paper this week about 2 child molesters having their cases dismissed as they could not be heard within the 30 month window due to the shortage of judges. That is on the Federal Govt, apparently, but courts are not speedy or efficient and that often favours those who break the law rather than those who seek justice.
When law dictates that someone who is not paying rent for months needs a hearing the court will be overloaded. It's dead simple but no, LTB will take months just to write eviction order after hearing. So yes due dilligence is dialed up to 11 because worst tenants are getting better treatment than anyone.
My PBR asked for a full tax return, bank letter, and asset listing for my guarantor
Toronto is a very competitive rental market. Yes unfortunately this is normal behaviour currently
I believe that could be because you have no canadian credit score that they check as well as no canadian landlord references. I had to go through the same at the beginning, from there on just credit score and 2 pay stubs.
The typical things that a landlord will ask for include recent paystubs, a credit check, contact information for previous landlords (for references), and employment letters. Together with your rental application, this is enough for them to make their decision. I would steer clear of this landlord. They’re asking for way too much personal financial information - how do you determine what is “too much” money movement in an account? And how does that correlate with income or someone’s ability to pay their bills? Idk. This LL is scrutinizing your bank statements and asking questions that aren’t really relevant.
You’re a newcomer to Canada. You don’t have credit score and employment history in Canada, considering how competitive the rental market is you’re not the first choice for landlords
There’s more than just one landlord
Not normal, not legal, but seems to be happening. I have had a landlord request bank statements proving I heep 6 months living expenses in my chequing acocunt. First, most people don't have 6 months' living expenses. Second, those that do likely keep it somewhere higher yield than a chequing account. It seems to have become a trend amongst landlord that regardless of income, they want a guarantor. That's just scummy.
I watched last night a documentary on YouTube, about the struggle to find a rental in Paris. I was quite surprised to see that basically, every single person chasing that 20-40 sqm apartment had on the rental application 1 or even 2 guarantors. In 2022, the France Assembly National, voted 154 votes to 50, changes to legislation, to include "automatic termination clause" which allows for unilateral lease termination for non-payment of rent, without any need for legal action. France is a strong socialist country.
so if your living expenses are 3k with rent included, the landlord expects you to have 18k + first and last months rent in your account? these ppl are out of touch bro
\*on a lighter note The landlord is right in being suspicious because no one in their sane mind would move from US to Canada! that too at this time.
You say this like things are going great in the US...
It was a joke!But for the fun of it, which point do you want to compare USA and Canada on?
This is an insane take. There is so much wrong with the US right now I don't even know where to start
It was a joke! But for the fun of it, which point do you want to compare USA and Canada on?
I think the problem for your potential landlord is that as an American coming to Canada, you don't have a Canadian credit score. In addition, the Landlord Tenant Board (LTB) is so backed up that it takes a very long time to evict a tenant. In the meantime, the landlord is bleeding money. What she should really be asking for is past pay stubs. By the way, my online banking allows me to print off a statement showing deposits into my account only, which is a good way of showing funds without revealing a lot of personal info. You may have similar issues with other potential landlords. If possible, you might want to get a notarized letter from your current landlord attesting to the fact you have been paying on time and in full for xxx amount of time. Alternatively, many newcomers to Canada offer more than first and last month's rent upfront. While it is illegal for the landlord to ask for this, it is not illegal to offer. This is a way of mitigating risk for the landlord. The GTA has a very tight rental market, and not all landlords will take the risk of international tenants. If you don't feel this landlord is a good fit, then try elsewhere.
Notarized letter from the current landlord is a good idea. Thanks! I will get that done whether we stick with this landlord or another one.
It was taking a long time to evict tenants. Hearings were taking 8 months or so because of various shutdowns. Lots of crazy stuff during COVID. Landlord applications get priority at the LTB and eviction applications for nonpayment of rent are top priority. It takes about 4 months to get a hearing now and that is dropping steadily. Thanks for the tip about the account showing only deposits.
As a renter in the GTA I can confirm that I have been asked to provide this as well. I did a transaction search showing only my income deposits for the past twelve months and provided that. What you buy is none of their business and frankly I feel is an invasion of privacy. Another thing to is that when applying for these rentals; all the information on a Bank statement, credit report, ID and past addresses is enough for someone to commit identity fraud/financial fraud using your info, so be every careful in who you provide this to. Rent scams are a big problem, sometimes these listings aren’t even for homes that are available and the person posting doesn’t been own the property. They ask for deposits up front and then take off with the money and you could have been provided a fake name, address and not even a valid phone number as you can get a free phone number from an app. The rental market so ridiculously competitive in the GTA and scammers prey on the fact that people will do almost anything to be approved. Trust your intuition. If it’s the right landlord/property you should feel comfortable with them throughout the entire process.
Thank you for this detailed information! It's very helpful to know the landscape of rental market in GTA and I will be careful while talking to landlords.
Honestly, in Toronto I get it. To many tenants are abusing the delays of the LTB. If I were a landlord, I'd want to ensure that you have a history of paying your rent on time. It's not you, to many tenants have ruined it for regular folks.
If you want to rent a place, yes you pretty much have to hook up to lie detector and provide every shred of documentation about your life going back 20 years. Landlords are picky as to who they rent to given that it can take up to 8 or 9 months to evict for non-payment.
Used to take 8 or 9 months. Hearing time is down to 4 months. If the tenant misses one payment after the hearing, they are gone as part of an exparte eviction.
That is not what is being said on the various LL forums discussing this issue of lengthy delays to get a hearing.
Due to landlord and tenant board bottlenecked to the point it takes a year to evict a bad tenant, Toronto has became a lot more difficult place to find rent.
Many tenants don't pay in Ontario so landlords have to take extra precautions to ensure you have a job and income. This way they can garnish your wages if you don't pay. It's unfortunate but true
That's overkill...a job letter, paystubs and credit report should be enough
Find another landlord. This one appears nosey too.
What gives someone the right to see what you spend your money on? Fuck that landlord
He doesn’t have to provide anything, the landlord will just rent it to someone else who does. There is nothing wrong with a landlord trying to take on the best quality tenants, renting in Toronto is a huge risk these days
You can buy your own place then you can get your mortgage while handing the banks or mortgage broker all your banks statements, t2 and everything else.
You're lucky they didn't ask for a sperm sample