u/Electronic_Bat9761

I found a condo through Kijiji to rent short term (minimum 3 months and planning on extending it later) and I’ll have two flatmates. The primary tenant (the lease is in their name) is asking for the first and last month’s rent to finalise the contract. I’m not in Toronto right now and the lease is valid from June onwards. I did send somebody to view the house on my behalf. Is this standard practice? Should I be concerned or ask to pay a smaller token amount instead to finalise the contract?

Edit: Thanks for the responses, everyone!