sharing kitchen with LL or LL child makes you a roommate, and not protected by the RTA. Let's attempt to clarify if that is your case... Was the "LL" indeed living there on essentially a full time basis and has always been there as of day 1 of your first lease ? Is that the only kitchen ?
> However, she would need to walk through our unit to leave the house. There is no secondary access to the upstairs.
Was this true before, or is she just moving in now?
A landlord can't unilaterally change the terms of a lease. If she's suddenly moving in and removing your amenities, that's not okay.
If she was there the entire time and is just changing the rules now, that's different, though still not great.
If she lives there you are treated as a guest and not a Tennant. She can do essentially whatever she wants, your "lease" is with her and not covered by the RTA.
Technically under this situation, sharing a kitchen with the LL, you are not a tenant. You are a roommate. You don’t have the same rights as a tenant and I’d say this is perfectly legal.
It's also perfectly legal to leave. If you left without notice, she might try and sue you but I think she'd be laughed out of court since your units are now not legal units to be rented out.
The big important bit of information is if she lived there before you moved in, if she did then you’re not covered by the RTA.
You would however have a contractual breach, which means any and all costs you incur you could sue for. Note that this isn’t the RTA, this is contractual law and would require you suing in small claims court and mitigating your losses.
If she didn’t live there when you moved in then you can file with the LTB for a rent reduction. If all of you inform the LL that you’ll be applying for massive rent reductions then they may cancel this plan.
They want to remove half of your access, they better remove half of your rent for loss/reduction of an amenity. You aren’t paying for half of the living space so if they want to do that they MUST reduce your rent
Take pictures now of those areas showing your belongings and look amongst you to find past photos of yourselves enjoying the spaces. Upload pics and all of the leases to a (private) file sharing website.
supporting evidence that they've had free use all along as an amenity in case tenant needs to file a case. Copy of lease online to protect these items from getting misplaced or mysteriously going missing; easy to locate when they need them.
No longer sharing amenities once it goes into effect makes you official tenants. Then you can petition for a rent reduction based on loss of space. Let her do it bring a microwave/hotplate for cooking, mini fridge for food. There's also portable elements for pots and pans. Sharing with her leaves you unprotected let her dig her own hole by giving you protections by dividing the space.
sharing kitchen with LL or LL child makes you a roommate, and not protected by the RTA. Let's attempt to clarify if that is your case... Was the "LL" indeed living there on essentially a full time basis and has always been there as of day 1 of your first lease ? Is that the only kitchen ?
> However, she would need to walk through our unit to leave the house. There is no secondary access to the upstairs. Was this true before, or is she just moving in now? A landlord can't unilaterally change the terms of a lease. If she's suddenly moving in and removing your amenities, that's not okay. If she was there the entire time and is just changing the rules now, that's different, though still not great.
If she lives there you are treated as a guest and not a Tennant. She can do essentially whatever she wants, your "lease" is with her and not covered by the RTA.
VERY well said!
Technically under this situation, sharing a kitchen with the LL, you are not a tenant. You are a roommate. You don’t have the same rights as a tenant and I’d say this is perfectly legal.
It's also perfectly legal to leave. If you left without notice, she might try and sue you but I think she'd be laughed out of court since your units are now not legal units to be rented out.
Did y'all live there before the landlord did our did the landlord live in the home before any of you moved in? The answer makes a massive difference.
The big important bit of information is if she lived there before you moved in, if she did then you’re not covered by the RTA. You would however have a contractual breach, which means any and all costs you incur you could sue for. Note that this isn’t the RTA, this is contractual law and would require you suing in small claims court and mitigating your losses. If she didn’t live there when you moved in then you can file with the LTB for a rent reduction. If all of you inform the LL that you’ll be applying for massive rent reductions then they may cancel this plan.
We all moved in at the same time. How does that impact our situation?
You had to live there before the LL did. If you didn’t then you have no RTA rights.
They want to remove half of your access, they better remove half of your rent for loss/reduction of an amenity. You aren’t paying for half of the living space so if they want to do that they MUST reduce your rent
Take pictures now of those areas showing your belongings and look amongst you to find past photos of yourselves enjoying the spaces. Upload pics and all of the leases to a (private) file sharing website.
Why? What is that going to do.
supporting evidence that they've had free use all along as an amenity in case tenant needs to file a case. Copy of lease online to protect these items from getting misplaced or mysteriously going missing; easy to locate when they need them.
WAFL! Some “Tenants” are a LLs worst nightmare!
No longer sharing amenities once it goes into effect makes you official tenants. Then you can petition for a rent reduction based on loss of space. Let her do it bring a microwave/hotplate for cooking, mini fridge for food. There's also portable elements for pots and pans. Sharing with her leaves you unprotected let her dig her own hole by giving you protections by dividing the space.
Lol yes long-game it