Rental housing in Ontario is becoming more and more of a hot topic as real estate gets less and less affordable. Society is increasingly splitting into two groups: those who rent out (landlords) and those who rent (tenants). The Ontario government tries to regulate the process, but as usual when the state gets involved, the outcome is odd: the landlords lose money, tenants can’t find housing, but everyone somehow looks like they’re “doing something.”
The fact is, evicting a problematic tenant in Ontario is no easy task. But like everything in life, there’s another side to it: tenant screening before move-in is becoming stricter and stricter. Landlords try to protect themselves as much as possible, and tenants, in turn, show incredible creativity in order to get that coveted apartment.
Today I’ll share how I help my clients, who rent out properties, find tenants we won’t have problems with later. The task is not nearly as simple as it may seem at first glance.
The two main rules here are: 1) whenever possible, avoid those who are highly likely to cause problems, and 2) I don’t recommend accepting as tenants those who would be difficult to evict in case problems arise.
A full description of “hard-to-evict” tenants and a detailed breakdown of Ontario’s landlord–tenant laws is outside the scope of this posting, so let’s stick with the practical side of things.
Step One: The Application
We start by asking applicants to fill out the Form 410 – Rental Application. It includes details about all family members, current and previous addresses, workplaces, and personal and professional references. We also require letters of employment stating position and salary, a few recent paystubs, and IDs for all adult family members.
IT Mindset: Presumption of Guilt
Here’s where my IT background comes in handy. The first rule of cybersecurity is: any information coming from outside the system is, by default, at best untrustworthy and at worst malicious, until proven otherwise. That’s exactly how I treat all documents — under the presumption of guilt.
Fake Letters and Paystubs
Fake letters of employment are usually not that hard to catch. I don’t call the phone number listed on the letter. Instead, I Google the company’s name (for small companies, I may also check on Corporations Canada), call the official number, and ask to be connected to the person who signed the letter. Then I verify all the details.
For larger companies, corporate email domains are key: if the letter shows an address ending with @rogers.com, that doesn’t prove the person works for Rogers (that’s just a regular client). But @rci.rogers.com? That’s much more convincing. Did you know that?
Then we look at the paystubs. Thanks to my accounting knowledge, I can tell whether deductions for CPP, EI, and taxes are correct, say, in a July paystub.
Online Banking and Credit Check
Next, I ask the applicant to log into their online banking — yes, right there, in front of me — and show a few transactions that match their paystubs. In person, this could be on a laptop or phone; on Zoom, I ask them to share their screen. This isn’t for my convenience but for their safety and privacy: no statements need to be printed, emailed, or stored, and no one else will ever see them.
After that, I ask the candidate to log into equifax.ca and show their credit score, plus scroll through the page showing debts and other details. Printouts or PDFs don’t count — we’re not going to guess whether something was alterated.
If Equifax isn’t available, we can repeat the process the next day or use borrowell.com or creditkarma.ca as alternatives.
The Tricks Applicants Try
You wouldn’t believe some of the tricks applicants come up with. For example — did you know that a driver’s license number actually correlates with surname and date of birth? If not, ask me sometime.
We also Google the candidate, check social media, and look them up on openroom and canlii, which list past disputes between tenants and landlords, including evictions. Any history of disputes is a major red flag.
We also call the current and previous landlords listed in the rental application. But first, I always confirm that those people really own the property in question (I have my ways to verify that). Then I ask why the tenants left, and check whether their story matches what the applicant told me.
Red Flags and Conditional Leases
If something doesn’t match, contradicts, or just can’t be verified, that’s a big red light. In such cases, I recommend my clients accept the offer but mark it as Leased Conditionally, with conditions for checking all the details (this is what’s called due diligence).
If things are still unclear, there’s also singlekey, a service that provides reports on potential tenants. Of course, any discrepancies are interpreted against the applicant.
Is It Complicated?
Maybe. But it’s definitely easier than going through eviction procedures later, especially when tenants stop paying.
I run these checks for all my clients who rent out properties, and then I give them a full report — detailing any red flags and my advice on how to proceed. The landlord, of course, makes the final call.
A Note to Tenants
Dear tenants, beloved and precious!
Let’s live in peace and harmony!
And if you’re struggling to find housing — please reach out. I’ll help you figure out what in your application might be causing doubts or rejections from landlords.
Serge Skyba
REALTOR® at Realty 7 Ltd, Brokerage
416 305 6525
serge@agent1.ca
