In the midst of a rental housing shortage, lawmakers are giving the green light to homeowners to open suites -- in basements, back rooms, and garages -- to tenants. Ontario recently sought to lessen the regulatory burden of bringing these units up to code. But it...
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Rental Property Management Tips
Ottawa Mulls Ban on Short-Term Rentals
Investors in Ottawa are angry over a proposal that would limit their ability to rent income properties on platforms like Airbnb. A group calling itself Short and Suite is collecting signatures for a petition it plans to present to city lawmakers demanding that owners...
How to Avoid Today’s Top Tenant Scams
In a tight rental market, landlords need to tighten their tenant screening practices as well. Tenants who never gave a second thought to late rent payments or property damage now can find themselves unable to qualify. So, they get creative. Social media makes it easy...
5 Property Management Strategies for New Landlords
While lawmakers are looking for ways to accommodate more renters, like California's new push to license in-law suites, many property owners are taking advantage of the hot market and renting out their homes rather than selling. And that means more people are becoming...
Landlord’s Companion Animal Policy Fails the Test
A Los Angeles landlord has agreed to pay a local fair housing agency $15,000 and undergo anti-discrimination training after denying companion animal requests. The fair housing agency sent six testers to the properties to pose as rental applicants with disabilities who...
Landlord, Tenants Fight Rental Inspection Ordinance
A landlord in Zion, Illinois, and her tenants, have filed a lawsuit challenging the city's rental inspection ordinance. According to the landlord's attorneys from the Institute for Justice, the ordinance grants the city broad authority to inspect and re-inspect rental...
Landlord Says He Learned a Lesson
A landlord who struggled for months to evict a professional tenant says he has learned a lesson: it's easy for scammers to take advantage of the law. After investigation, a news report details this tenant's history with at least three landlords where he failed to pay...
3 Reasons to Avoid Screening Tenants on Social Media
With social media so prevalent today, it's easy to see why landlords would turn to these platforms to get an insider's look at prospective tenants. But social media research has its drawbacks, and landlords may want to rethink changing up their tried-and-true tenant...
Landlord Must Amend Tenancy Agreement
A British Columbia landlord was ordered to drop a lease provision that allowed for an above-guideline rent increase in the event the landlord incurred additional costs. According to a news report, the provision allowed the landlord to increase rent by an additional...
4 Easy Ways to Improve Your Landlord Forms
Rental forms are the backbone of property management, so why not give yours a little extra punch? Check out these four tips: 1. When preparing a rental ad, include these simple words: Tenant Background Check Required. Tenants with bad rental history or bad credit...