What to know
- Under the Residential Tenancies Act, landlords must give tenants written notice at least 24 hours before entering a rental unit, including the reason for the visit and a time between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.
- According to real estate expert Will Doyle, renters can legally deny entry if a landlord shows up without proper notice and can escalate the issue to the Landlord and Tenant Board.
- Landlords are allowed to keep spare keys, but they still cannot enter the unit without notice unless there is an emergency, such as a fire or flood.
- Landlords can install security cameras facing outside areas for safety purposes, but devices cannot record inside private spaces or capture audio.
It may take effort to make your rental feel like your home, and it can become especially difficult when your landlord acts like they still live in it.
From showing up unannounced to keeping a spare key or monitoring security cameras, some landlords might be a bit all over the place when it comes to managing their property.
To help tenants deal with these tricky situations, Now Toronto spoke with real-estate expert Will Doyle about what Ontario renters can do to protect their privacy.
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Can landlords show up unannounced?
Having a guest show up to your home unannounced might be stressful, but what happens when they are also your landlord?
Doyle explained that Ontario has some “fairly strict” rules when it comes to landlord visits.
Although they own the property, the Residential Tenancies Act states that landlords must give written notice at least 24 hours before they arrive for a visit. This notice must also include a specific date and time and a reason for the entry, while the visit must be scheduled between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.
But there are some exceptions: if they give them permission to enter, or during emergencies.
“There are situations where a landlord can enter a rental property without notice. It would only be for things like emergencies, like floods or fires or things like that,” Doyle said.
If a listing for rent or sale is up for the property, landlords must also give notice before any showings to agents, potential buyers, or tenants.
What can tenants do if their landlord visits without notice?
Similar to dealing with any uninvited visitors, tenants are allowed to deny entry to landlords who come to the rental without proper notice.
In this case, the tenant is allowed to refuse to open the door and to just send them away.
If the landlord does insist on entering, the tenant would be able to escalate the situation to the Landlord and Tenant Board and prove that no notice was given.
“So, a tenant will be able to refuse entry for a landlord trying to enter without proper notice, and the Landlord and Tenant board has been fairly strict on the guidelines of a complete notice or not,” Doyle said.
“I’ve had cases where the landlord would give say, even 21 or 22 hours notice and it still wouldn’t hold up.”
However, the realtor notes that if landlords do give proper notice, tenants are not allowed to deny them entry, even if the visit is scheduled for an inconvenient time or if there’s an emergency.
“The landlord is technically giving notice to the tenants for entry, they’re not asking permission. And inconvenience or the tenants not being home isn’t a valid reason for a tenant to deny entry to their landlord. Tenants can usually ask the landlord to reschedule and most reasonable landlords will accommodate, but they’re not legally required to.”
Can landlords keep a spare key?
According to Doyle, there are no rules within the Landlord and Tenant Board that prevent the landlord from keeping a spare key to the rental.
However, having a key doesn’t mean that they can enter any time. Even then, they are still required to give notice.
Even if the tenant is not home, they are not allowed to use their keys to enter the property without proper notice, unless for emergency reasons.
If the landlord improperly uses their spare keys, tenants can also escalate the situation to the Landlord and Tenant Board.
“If the landlord is illegally entering into the unit and the tenant isn’t giving consent, the Landlord and Tenant Board can force the landlord to pay some fees or cut down on rents owed by the tenant,” Doyle said.
Can landlords install cameras in rentals?
In an era where devices are everywhere, having cameras in the rental property might be another thing to consider when it comes to tenant privacy.
According to Doyle, the Residential Tenancies Act also includes some restrictions on how landlords can use cameras.
While property owners are allowed to install cameras for security purposes only, there are rules to protect tenants’ privacy. The devices must only face the outside of the property and stay away from recording any private areas. They must also not catch any audio at all.
“For a condo, for example, you can’t have any cameras at all inside the unit facing inside or recording audio. Or in cases like detached houses, you could make an argument to have cameras facing outside, but only for security purposes,” Doyle said.
The realtor also notes that landlords have to follow some privacy rules when it comes to putting listings up for rental properties. For instance, any marketing photos of the property must not show any items that are too personal or might identify the tenant without their consent, including family photos.
“It’s kind of also a grey area in terms of when you’re taking marketing photos of a rented space, because it’s kind of along the same lines as publicizing a private space online. So, attendance still does require some consent, depending on what’s being shared in the marketing photos. So, it can be something that the landlord should be aware of,” he added.
