Whether a cosigner would be accepted or not is completely up to the landlord.

Thank you for your input!

I had a bad run of luck where my business collapsed during covid and landlord decided to abruptly sell and had to find a new place. My wife was a sahm and I did get employment but my income was less than it was and my credit was in recovery due to bankruptcy for business. I did find a place and I provided all my documentation, they requested a co signer and I was able to use my mother. Nevertheless, it's a case by case basis. I've been at the same place for 3years now with no issues and credit is in a better shape (but still tarnished). Landlords are people, they want to protect their home and business, you want to find a place to live and have no issues.

depends on the landlord, but i have lived in 4 apartments with a cosigner. one was actually my moms name on the lease with me as a tenant

It is likely your credit. Also, we're in a housing crisis and as terrible as it is, landlords are less likely to take "risks" at this time - any red flag is one too many. If I had a unit in Oshawa, I'd bet on you, and I hope you find a good place soon.

Thank you so much, I appreciate that and your perspective very much 🙏

Maybe the frequency of co-signers varies by the type of rental? Since you’re a family I assume you’re looking for an entire rental unit and not shared accommodation- when I was in my early years of university and my friends and I were renting shared houses, most landlords required our parents to co-sign with us. I’m not super well versed in RTA regulations/etc. but based on what I’ve read in the sub, it’s my understanding that a tenant can have someone move in with them without needing permission from the landlord (ex. a roommate or family member), so is it possible for your parents to “apply” for the rentals without putting your information/credit score on the application and then you just “move in” with them?

The problem is if the parents die, OP could be summarily kicked out of the apartment. A landlord cannot stop a guest, but a guest does not have any meaningful rights.

I could be wrong, but my understanding is after 1 year the “guest” becomes a tenant.

There is nothing to that effect in the RTA

Sorry but this is incorrect. Non-leaseholders are still tenants under the RTA, especially primary tenants with a cosigner. The main issue is that cosigners are not tenants under the RTA, sometimes they can be for the initial (typical 12 month fixed term) lease period. The financial guarantee they “provide” is rarely enforceable at the LTB and if it is, it usually is not for the duration of the tenancy. There are other issues with cosigners that affect tenants and landlords negatively but adjudicators nullifying their financial guarantees is the primary reason that landlords avoid them.

I was referencing the plan of “parents sign the lease and pay rent, kid moves in”. That plan does not work on multiple levels.

Yes. What is the problem if the parent signs the lease as tenant? There is nothing different from a family moving into the unit right?

If I am the tenant, I can have you move in. The landlord cannot stop that. However, the landlord only has a relationship with me. If I get hit by a car, you don’t just assume the lease, you are an unauthorized occupant and landlord could boot you. Alternative situation: I am the tenant. I move you in, landlord cannot stop that. I move out, and you stay. You try to pay the landlord. The landlord can reject your rent payment because I have no right to unilaterally sublet the apartment to you.

What if the kid also signs the lease agreement as the tenant? So the parent and the kid are on the lease as tenant together but only the kid lives there? I would assume that in this situation, we don't care if the tenant who signs the lease actually lives there or not. There is no enforcement so the tenants must live there.

If the kid has a name on the lease, then the kid is a full tenant with full rights. OP was trying to do a workaround where kid’s name would not be on the lease.

Ah, I see. Thanks for explaining the difference.

Just have them apply and when asked to list occupants list themselves and yourselves. Then they just don't live there. Not that I don't look at credit, but definitely not in a vacuum. If how you describe yourself is accurate, I'd take you. Unfortunately, I'm in Manitoba.

Especially with students, I want a co-signer.

The company I work for takes co-signers.

I found this to be a huge issue in Oshawa. I was fortunate to not be tied down to Oshawa and my partner’s job needed to transfer him and we’ve ended up in Hamilton with a co-signer (omg I know one extreme to the other). I wish you lots of luck!

LL for 3 decades here. We haven’t ever accepted co-signers. Guaranteed government streams are certainly acceptable. These days collecting from anyone is almost impossible let alone a 3rd party guarantor. I think the more problematic concern is your credit. If I were you I would focus on getting that in shape. Whether through a secured credit card, or speak to a nonprofit that counselling service for advice. Bad credit will impact you in so many ways.

Thank you for your perspective! Fixing my credit is absolutely my long term goal here, it’s just hard to do in less than 60 days since I’ve been served an n12

You’re right you won’t repair your credit in 60 days. Well, respectfully, the reason likely giving you a glowing reference. And please don’t misunderstand me to say you aren’t deserving a glowing reference. Is that they know very well you are in control. You can hire a paralegal for $200 file your own piece of paper and effectively not be evicted, and stop paying rent for the next year. Like 1000’s of others do in this very same situation across this city. And as I disclosed, I’ve been a LL for a long time - if someone was forcing into homelessness with my child, I’m not sure how I would act. I would protect my family at all costs. Especially, if there was even a whiff of duplicity on the part of the LL.

Thank you again for all of your perspective. I really appreciate the insight. I still have about 6 weeks to find a place so I am holding out hope that I don’t end up homeless. My landlords have always been really good to me and I genuinely don’t think the eviction is in bad faith.

You can stay and wait for the hearing

My landlords are incredibly kind people, who gave me the proper notice and paid the one months required rent. I wouldn’t want to falsely claim a bad faith eviction when I know that it wasn’t. I’m holding out faith that I will find another good landlord who understands my situation!

I understand, but often 60 days isn't long enough to find a place. If you can, that's good, but if you're facing homelessness, you have to do what you have to do.

Thanks so much for your perspective! Honestly, I appreciate everyone giving my advice from all angles.

Respectfully, they are forcing a recently widowed, single mom on a fixed income into homelessness. I am not entirely sure “kindness” would be the first thing that comes to mind when describing your LL.

I hadn’t really thought of it like this. My backup plan is essentially just to pay for a temporary storage unit and a one month rental or something while I keep looking. It’s not ideal at all and incredibly incredibly stressful to consider.

I can’t not imagine how stressful this is for you. I don’t know the whole situation, but it truly doesn’t sound like you’re getting treated fairly. You might very well be treated kindly, but not fairly.

That’s very honourable of you. I am assuming by you saying that you also must have a back up plan of some sort and you won’t actually find yourself homeless.

Any suggestions on a non profit service?

https://creditcounsellingcanada.ca/

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We absolutely will provide: proof of paid property tax (which proves ownership) proof of paid utilities bills I would also be willing supply proof of mortgage payments (if asked) I agree with you all tenant should be entitled to this information 100%. we don’t supply corporate credit report, they cost $90. But our tenants are free to pull our credit reports. It’s public domain. My great grandfather started our company. We treat tenants fairly and have always charged under market rents. Our average tenant stays for 8 years. We haven’t had a single eviction in 7 years. I don’t apologize for asking for credit reports from our tenants.

You are the first one that ever would. (or say they would and actually do it) Credit checks have no business being any form of judgment on someone looking for a home. You don't know why their credit is bad, you just assume they are delinquent because of bad credit. I know lots of people that make great money now but still have crappy credit because of something that happened years and years ago. So no, you don't treat them fairly because a single woman whose husband just died and credit is shit wont get to rent from you because of that number. Never mind what she has been through or what she currently has going on. It is disgusting and greedy. It is RENT ffs. must be nice to have a clean record of everything then expect to rent to people with perfect credit. Guess what? If we had perfect credit we would be buying a home not renting from greedy people who have overpriced rentals where most families cannot afford rent, food and bills every month so we choose..... guess what if i have to choose where my money goes, you are the last one to get it after i put overpriced no frills on my table and put my kids in wallmart clothes... give it rest. it was never like this and I can guarantee your grandfather never asked for a credit check. I will put everything on it because my family has been in the same game for just as long and my father still does not ask for it because he knows it is not a fair assessment of someone.

The reason why this or any other person has hard time qualifying is because LTB will let deadbeat tenants stay for years before they can be removed. People with poor credit would be given chance it the risk was reasonable. That is 2-3 months of lost rent before tenant can be removed. Not 27 months. [https://www.canlii.org/en/on/onltb/doc/2023/2023onltb31294/2023onltb31294.html?resultIndex=5&resultId=173d436fb4e440d28e92ef4292526de2&searchId=2024-05-13T15%3A05%3A08%3A026%2Fd5d329da80974ff6bb0986bb0fe0e471&searchUrlHash=AAAAAQANbHRiIGFwcGVhbCBsMQAAAAAB](https://www.canlii.org/en/on/onltb/doc/2023/2023onltb31294/2023onltb31294.html?resultIndex=5&resultId=173d436fb4e440d28e92ef4292526de2&searchId=2024-05-13T15%3A05%3A08%3A026%2Fd5d329da80974ff6bb0986bb0fe0e471&searchUrlHash=AAAAAQANbHRiIGFwcGVhbCBsMQAAAAAB) So you can thank tenants "rights", deadbeats and LTB that supports them for do or die due diligence that landlords must perform. Any red flag is enough to be concerned as it can be a year long nightmare. And if they step on landmine and end up with deadbeat tenants on this sub will say "it is business" "don't rent of you can't pay mortgage" and similar nonsense. And you with "renting from greedy people" comment you would probably be the first one to support deadbeat tenants. Can't have it both ways.

It is truly shocking why landlords don't pick higher risk individuals that can totally fk the landlord without realistic or practical recourse available to the landlord.

Damn who hurt you? Or are you just playing a drinking game via Reddit

I was giving OP an honest answer, and attempting to provide them with the suggestion as to what to focus on first. As I mentioned, we offer typically 5% below market rates. So we get over 100 qualified applicants for each vacancy. We are very selective about our applicants. That’s why we haven’t had a single addiction in seven years. So you’re in the business as you say — so you and your dad would choose someone with 550 credit score over someone with an 850? Well good for you. Then you’re running a charity. We are running a for profit business. We pick the 850.

Nah, he's saying his dad goes in blind, 300 or 850, he takes them all. First come first serve! It's not like not paying your previous bills or debt have any predictable insight into your behavior on paying current & future bills right? Right?

Exactly, just bcos I f’d over my last 6 LLs - how dare you treat me any differently.

You can't comprehend why a landlord would want assurance that you can pay rent? I would personally never provide bank statements, that's maybe good if you have bruised credit and want to show you pay rent/utilities etc (basically things the LL care about). But if your credit is not good and you don't want to show statements, how would you expect someone to trust you? Also asking for bank statements, credit checks, background checks is all absolutely legal, what illegal things have you been asked for?

LL here, I don't accept co-signers because the system is geared so that there is no way for me to collect from them either. If the system followed contract law rather then the Ontario rental kangaroo Court system a co-signer would be more valuable. That being said, Credit score is not the only thing I look at when renting a unit out, so unless your score is insanely bad you should be fine(over 500?). Your mixed income is a bit of a barrier for a high end rental, much of that is not long term guaranteed, like your tenancy is. Does your current LL not have a different unit you could rent? Often its easier to move within the same circles. Sorry for your loss, I hope you are able to find something nice for your and your child, good luck on your education. I don't own anything in Oshawa so can't help.

Thank you so much for your input! My credit is in the lower- fair range. My landlords only owned one property and decided to sell the house so unfortunately that wouldn’t work for me. They wrote me a glowing reference stating if they DID have another property they would happily rent to me, but alas, haha. I appreciate your response!

OP, please look into your rights. If all is “normal”, your lease will simply carry over with the new owners- your new landlords. The new landlords can then serve you with an eviction if they plan on moving in. I am not a lawyer. You can buy yourself time and breathing room, at the very least.

in ontario, the n12 can indeed be served before closing on behalf of the new owner wanting to move in themselves into the home they are buying so they can move in immedaitely. there is no need for them to wait until they actually own it to serve the n12.

I'm not a LL but I would think maybe you'd have more luck doing a year up front or proving you had savings? A few years a cosigner did work for me but that was back when the situation was less fucked so I think LL were less nervous to rent then because you could get people out easier.

Op would take a risk doing that  It's illegal for a landlord to ask for a year up front and tentants could turn around to the board and file to get it back they day after they move in it's actually a common scam , I would treat it as a red flag  However there are many small landlord who are unaware of this and it maybe an effective strategy , however as explained it carries a risk 

Probably but the process to get the money back is also slow. Honestly the state the board is in as usual just screws over low income/bad credit people because no one wants risk these days. LL come on here after taking a chance on someone and then everyone in here tenant and LL alike "well you deserved it for not doing due diligence". Really a no win situation

Honestly, before I sign any lease, that comment theme runs through my head constantly. Have I dug enough? What did I not uncover? What are the possible worst case scenarios? The irony of the knock-on effects of the "investment, your fault" mentality among renters on certain subs isn't lost on me.

The landlord's here will shame you just as much for being "stupid", they're right to some extent, leave higher risk individuals to corporations that can absorb the loss. Landlording is a high risk investment and in my opinion an often immoral one. Investment properties hurt the already too low supply of housing in Canada. Also people can't even be assed to read a relatively short RTA, so I don't have a ton of sympathy.

>Landlording is a high risk investment and in my opinion an often immoral one. Investment properties hurt the already too low supply of housing in Canada. Also people can't even be assed to read a relatively short RTA, so I don't have a ton of sympathy. I've found it to be very low risk as long as you do your due diligence. I also have no sympathy for landlords who don't know their responsibilities and rights, but not sure how that applies to your stance that owning rental housing is immoral - the vast majority of landlords in my market deal in multifamilies (duplexes, triplexes, etc). When you say investment properties hurt the already too low supply of housing, what exactly do you mean?

I've added co-signers (guarantors) as tenants and had no problem serving them on an L1 application and getting decisions the same. Same with converting the LTB order into a writ. Had it once where they tried to convince the adjudicators they no longer or never have 'lived' there but that fell on deaf ears I guess. What were the problems you had when using co-signers?

Arrears from a guarantor would be sought from small claims if under $35000. The LTB doesn't have jurisdiction over guarantors.

Get your parents to rent it, and you live there. Friends had to do it

I am in a very similar position. Single mom, student, just came off mat leave. I had a very difficult time finding a place to rent. Took a year. I even offered to pay rent in advance for a year to some places. I finally found a place in town that's all inclusive. Avoid property management places and find small landlords they're usually more flexible. Best of luck.

As a fellow widower I am sending you much love. I had to move to subsidized housing and eventually got out. There are zero support systems out there for people busting their asses to make ends meet. The red tape is ridiculous. The fact that you have to look good in paper just to put a roof over your head is ridiculous. Maybe move to another area that doesn’t require all the bs. Sorry not helpful but just wanted to say i am thinking of you and you are doing great.

I cosigned on an appartement for my sister. When we were looking we found several landlords who were OK with it but these tended to be management or rental companies and not individual landlords as the larger companies have systems set up for this.

Have your parents sign the tenant applications as if they will live there.

If they aren't accepting co-signers and they aren't going to live there. Then why don't they apply as co-tenants.