Hi everyone,
I recently moved out of a rental unit in Ontario, and I’m dealing with a dispute with my landlord regarding alleged damages and cleaning costs.
The situation is a bit complicated:
I have already moved out of the unit.
The landlord extended the stay of the remaining occupants/tenants without discussing it with me.
Now the landlord is bringing up “cleaning issues” and other damages after my move-out.
They are also claiming I am responsible for:
Broken linen closet door
Storm/porch door hydraulic issue (this existed since move-in and was never properly fixed)
Staircase railing damage
General paint issues
Cleaning of the unit
My concerns:
The unit was not in a final vacant condition when I left because the landlord allowed others to continue staying there.
Paint issues were never mentioned in the lease or during tenancy discussions.
The porch/storm door issue was pre-existing and previously attempted to be fixed.
I was never provided a proper move-in condition report.
No formal inspection was done at move-out, and now I’m being asked informally to pay or arrange repairs (TaskRabbit, etc.).
From my understanding, under Ontario rules and the Landlord and Tenant Board, tenants are only responsible for damage beyond normal wear and tear and landlords must provide evidence (move-in vs move-out condition).
My questions:
Can I still be held responsible if the landlord changed occupancy/extended other tenants after my move-out?
Can they charge for cleaning when the unit wasn’t actually handed back in a fully vacant state?
What kind of proof are they required to provide?
Should I just wait for them to go through the LTB if they want to claim anything?
Any advice or similar experiences would really help.