Tribunal administratif du logement
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Have you been thinking about investing in rental housing or building an apartment building? Did you recently buy or inherit a rental property? If so, this document is for you. It’s intended to help you make informed decisions and understand the first steps to take as a new lessor.
It gives an overview of the regulations that apply to residential renting in Québec but is far from exhaustive.
Residential renting is governed by the Civil Code of Québec and the Act respecting the Administrative Housing Tribunal. A significant part of this legislation is public policy, which means it cannot be waived, either by a lease clause or otherwise. These rules are reproduced in the MANDATORY PARTICULARS section of the lease form, use of which is mandatory.
The Tribunal administratif du logement is the specialized administrative tribunal responsible for applying the law regarding rental housing.
The mission of the Tribunal administratif du logement includes:
At the Tribunal administratif du logement, legal fees are incurred as soon as a judicial application is filed. They may vary depending on the cost of the rent written in the lease or the nature of the application.
The Tribunal administratif du logement decides in first instance, to the exclusion of any other tribunal, on applications in cases where:
The Tribunal administratif du logement also handles cases of:
This legislation applies to all sites rented for residential purposes, such as:
It also applies to services (e.g., laundry, meals, infirmary), accessories (e.g., refrigerator, air conditioner) and dependencies (e.g., garage, parking area) included in the dwelling lease or any other document.
A room is considered a dwelling unless:
Before you acquire a rental property, it is important to understand the rights, obligations and recourses of lessors and lessees.
An owner who puts their property up for sale has the right to show the dwellings to a prospective buyer. However, there are conditions that must be met:
If the lessee refuses without a valid reason, the owner may apply to the Tribunal administrative du logement for an order to force the lessee to provide access to the dwelling.
The law entitles the lessee to maintain occupancy. In other words, the lessee has the right to stay in their dwelling as long as they wish, even if the lease is a verbal one, as long as they comply with their obligations.
The lessor may not evict the lessee when the lease expires, because the lease automatically renews, even if a new lease is not signed.
However, certain provisions of the law allow a lessor to terminate a lease when it expires, on specific grounds that will be detailed later (e.g., repossession of a dwelling).
Immediately after purchase, the new lessor may not unilaterally change anything about the lease in effect and must respect all conditions of that lease.
For example, if the former lessor went to collect rent at the lessee’s residence, the new lessor must continue to do the same.
The new lessor gains the rights of the former lessor, including the right to increase rent and to change any other conditions of the lease when it expires.
Such changes may only take effect when the lease is renewed, and in the manner provided by law. Unless changes are made, the lease will automatically renew with the same conditions.
Upon receiving written notice of modifications to the lease, the lessee has three options:
When called upon to fix rent, the Tribunal administratif du logement does so based on the rent paid by the lessee and on the criteria established under regulation.
At the hearing, the lessor will need to justify the requested increase, using invoices or other relevant documentation, so it is important to get such documents from vendors at the time of a transaction.
To better understand what is involved when the Tribunal renews a lease and fixes the rent, consult the Calculation for rent increase section.
For more information, refer to the Renewal of the lease and fixing of rent section.
Exception: Neither the lessor nor the lessee may have the rent fixed by the Tribunal nor change any other conditions of the lease for:
OR
These restrictions must, however, be mentioned in the dwelling lease; if they are not mentioned, they may not be set up by the lessor against the lessee.
If these two conditions are met, a lessee who disagrees with a rent increase or other proposed modification(s) has only two choices: to accept the modification or to leave at the end of their lease. Informing the lessor that they are refusing the modification means that the lessee intends to leave the premises at the end of the lease.
Unless one of the above exceptions applies, a new lessee may ask the Tribunal to fix the rent if the amount they pay is greater than the lowest rent paid over the 12 months prior to the start of their lease. The Tribunal will then handle the case in accordance with the Regulation respecting the criteria for the fixing of rent and may adjust the rent retroactively to the starting date of the lease.
When you enter into a new lease, you must, in most instances, provide the new lessee with a notice indicating the lowest rent paid or the rent fixed by the Tribunal for that dwelling over the 12 months prior to the lease’s starting date. Where no rent has been paid during this period, the notice shall indicate the last rent paid and the date.
This obligation may be discharged by completing section G of the mandatory lease form.
However, you do not need to provide such a notice to a new lessee in the following cases:
For the first two exceptions, the lease must mention these restrictions in section F of the lease form.
If you intend to do major work in the dwelling, you must follow certain formalities. Major work includes important repairs or improvements, such as renovating the bathroom, installing new cabinets, repairing the heating system, etc.
You must give the lessee 10 days’ notice prior to the start of work, so long as the lessee does not need to vacate the premises or does not need to do so for more than a week.
If the dwelling must be vacated for more than one week, at least three months’ notice is required.
Not only do you need to provide notice within the time limits specified by law, but that notice must also include all the following information:
Also, if the dwelling must be temporarily vacated, the notice must include:
In all cases where a lessee is asked to leave temporarily, they have 10 days after receiving the notice to inform the lessor whether or not they agree to vacate the dwelling. If the lessee does not respond, they are presumed to have refused to leave the premises.
If the lessee refuses to vacate, the lessor may apply to the Tribunal administratif du logement within 10 days of the refusal to have it rule on the advisability of the evacuation and set conditions it considers just and reasonable.
If the lessee is not asked to leave the dwelling or agrees to do so but wishes to contest some of the conditions in the notice, the lessee has 10 days after receiving the notice to ask the Tribunal to change or remove the conditions that they consider abusive.
Whenever the lessee or lessor applies to the Tribunal, all work is immediately suspended unless the Tribunal decides otherwise. These hearings will be given priority by the Tribunal.
At the hearing held by the Tribunal on the conditions of work to be done, the lessor must show that the work and conditions are reasonable and (if applicable) that vacating the dwelling is necessary.
In its decision, the Tribunal may impose conditions that it considers just and reasonable.
For more information, see the Major work section.
The owner may retake possession of a dwelling in order to live there personally or have certain individuals live there.
However, note that someone who jointly co owns a property with someone other than their spouse may not repossess a dwelling4.
If the new owner wishes to occupy a dwelling currently occupied by a lessee, they must personally provide the notice of repossession of the dwelling once the sale is concluded.
Notwithstanding the above, an owner may not repossess a dwelling if the lessee or the lessee’s spouse is 70 years of age or older, has occupied the dwelling for at least 10 years and has income equal to or less than the maximum threshold to qualify for a dwelling in low rental housing, except in one of the following situations:
The lessor (owner) must send the lessee written notice of their intent to repossess the dwelling at the end of the lease.
This notice must include the following information:
Upon receiving notice of the repossession of their dwelling, the lessee has two options:
Important: If the lessee does not respond, they will be deemed to have refused to depart.
The lessor must apply to the Tribunal for authorization to repossess the dwelling, within one month of receiving the lessee’s notice of refusal or of their presumed refusal (if the lessee does not respond to the notice). During the hearing, the lessor must demonstrate that they truly intend to repossess the dwelling for the purpose stated in the notice, and that the repossession is not a pretext for a different end. In the interim, the lessor and lessee may attempt to negotiate conditions they both deem fair and reasonable, so that the lessor can exercise their right of repossession.
If the Tribunal authorizes the repossession of the dwelling, it may impose conditions that it deems fair and reasonable. These conditions might include a compensation payment from the lessor to the lessee, often equivalent to moving costs.
If the lessee is able to demonstrate before the Tribunal that the repossession is being carried out in bad faith, they can claim damages and potentially also punitive damages.
If you plan to purchase a condominium occupied by a lessee in a rental property converted to divided co ownership, you may not be able to carry out a repossession.
For more information, see the Repossessing a dwelling section.
You should be aware that, if your property includes a rental dwelling or has included one in the past 10 years, not all municipalities will authorize you to convert the property to divided co ownership. You should verify what bylaws are in effect in the municipality in question.
Authorization by the Tribunal is required in all cases, even when all dwellings are occupied by undivided co owners.
Repossession of a lessee’s dwelling by an owner becomes prohibited as soon as the lessee receives a notice of intent to convert to divided co ownership. Simultaneously, authorization by the Tribunal becomes required to carry out any work other than urgent or maintenance work.
If you are interested in a property located in a housing complex, you must obtain authorization from the Tribunal before proceeding with the sale.
A property is part of a housing complex when:
AND
If a sale is conducted without prior authorization from the Tribunal, any interested party may apply to the Superior Court to have it declared null and void.
If you plan to make one of these changes, there are specific regulations that you must comply with. See the section Eviction to divide the dwelling, enlarge it substantially or change its destination.
As soon as the transaction is complete, the lessees of the property must be notified individually and in writing of the change of owner. This may be done by either the former or the new owner. If notification is given by the new owner, it is preferable to avoid any uncertainty by including a copy of the act of acquisition or a letter identifying the new owner and written by the notary who received the deed of sale.
Until a lessee has been personally notified, they may not be held at fault for continuing to pay rent to the former owner.
If these formalities are not carried out and a lessee is uncertain of who the owner is, the lessee may apply to the Tribunal for authorization to deposit their rent with them.
As a new owner, it is in your interest to inquire about court cases to which the former owner is a party.
Continuance of suit and intervention are two proceedings that may be of interest if you wish to take over any active applications.
A written lease is much more beneficial for all parties, because its clauses are proof of their existence for both lessor and lessee. This means they are less likely to be contested than a verbal (oral) lease. Even in the case of a verbal lease, however, a lessor is required by law to give the lessee a document in writing.
Within 10 days of entering into the lease, the lessor is required to give the lessee a copy of the lease. In the case of a verbal lease, the lessor is required to give the lessee a document in writing that states the lessor’s name and address, the lessee’s name, the rent and the address of the rented dwelling, as well as containing the particulars stipulated under government regulation.
This document forms part of the lease. The lease or the document in writing must be created using the form prescribed by government regulation.
Furthermore, if the lease is renewed and the parties agree to make modifications to it, the lessor must give the lessee a document in writing setting forth the modifications to the initial lease. This document must be provided before the renewal takes effect.
However, the lessee may not apply for the lease to be terminated if the lessor fails to comply with these requirements.
Even if you plan to purchase a residential rental property in which all of the dwellings are currently rented, sooner or later you will have to enter into a lease with a new lessee.
The main points of this process are outlined in the section Signing a lease.
Once you’re a lessor, you have the right to verify the condition of your dwellings or to carry out work there. You must exercise this right with judgment. You are required to give the lessee 24 hours’ notice. This notice may be verbal, except for major work, for which the notice must be in writing and contain certain information.
However, if repair work is urgent and necessary (for example, a major plumbing leak or sparks in the electrical panel), you may have that work done immediately without having to notify the lessee.
Except in cases of emergency, visits must take place between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. Repairs must be done between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.
If one of your lessees chooses not to renew their lease, you will be able to visit the dwelling. In that case, the lessee is required to allow visits between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. No notice is required, but you should still inform them in advance of every visit.
The lessor must act in a reasonable fashion and respect the lessee’s privacy and free enjoyment of the dwelling and the inviolability of the lessee’s home. It is best if the lessor and lessee can come to an agreement on the conditions for visiting the dwelling.
Note, however, that the lessee may demand that you or your representative accompany any potential lessee who visits the dwelling. Otherwise, the lessee has the right to refuse you access.
For more information, refer to the Access to the dwelling and visiting rights section.
1. The term “lessor,” found in the Civil Code of Québec, refers generally to the owner of a property.
2. For more details, consult the web site of the Tribunal administratif du logement, at www.tal.gouv.qc.ca.
3. This compensation is payable on the date the lessee vacates the premises. If it proves insufficient, the lessee may be reimbursed for any other reasonable expenses incurred.
4. There are some exceptions to this rule for properties whose titles of ownership were registered before 1988. Contact the Tribunal administratif du logement for more information.