After you agree to pay a certain amount of rent when you enter a new tenancy, your landlord has only four legal ways to increase it. If there is a Landlord and Tenant Board Order against your landlord for a prior violation, your landlord may not be able to increase rent at all until certain problems are fixed.

Annual Guideline Increases
Every year, the province sets a maximum percentage that the rent can increase without special permission. This is announced every year, and is available on the Landlord and Tenant Board website at ltb.gov.on.ca. For example, the 2013 maximum increase is 2.5 per cent, and the 2012 maximum increase was 3.1 per cent.

For your landlord to properly increase rent, you must be given a Notice of Rent Increase (Form N1) at least 90 days before the new rent comes into effect. This must be handed to you or delivered to you in a secure way, and cannot just be placed on your door. The landlord can only increase the rent this way if more than 12 months have passed since the tenancy began, or since the last rent increase.

Catch-Up to the Annual Guideline
When a landlord has not taken the annual rent increase for a year or more, the landlord may “catch up” by adding the percentage increases that have not yet been asked for. The Notice of Rent Increase (Form N1) must clearly outline the amount of the increase. You should double check your records to make sure that previous rent increases were not taken by the landlord.

By Agreement with the Tenant
Tenants and landlords can agree to a higher rent increase if the landlord is making major repairs or adding services. Examples could include the addition of a new parking space, making the unit larger, adding air conditioning, adding cable television, adding storage space or including utilities in the price of rent when large appliances like a washer and dryer are added to the unit.

If your landlord asks you to sign an agreement, you should seek legal advice before signing because the rules about these increases are quite complicated. There are maximums that the rent can be raised by, and there is a time limit to dispute improper increases.

By Application to the Landlord and Tenant Board
The landlord can apply to the Landlord and Tenant Board to increase the rent above the annual guideline if there are large increases to property taxes or utility costs, or if building security is provided by an independent company. An application can also be made for large expenses such as plumbing, air conditioning, roof repair, or providing access for people with disabilities. A tenant must receive a copy of this application, and can participate in the Board hearing.

If the Board has not made a decision before the date of the scheduled increase, you have the option of paying the new amount and receiving a refund if the application is not granted; or paying only the annual increase and waiting for the Board decision.

Note, if you pay only the annual increase and the Board later grants the full increase requested, you will be required to pay the difference between what you paid and the full increase for the interim time period.

For more information on tenant rights and rental housing laws, and to find application forms to enforce your rights, please visit the Landlord and Tenant Board website at ltb.gov.on.ca or call them at 1-888-332-3234.

This column is brought to you by Community Law School (Sarnia-Lambton) Inc., and Community Legal Services and Pro Bono Students Canada at Western University. It provides legal information only. The information is accurate as of the date of publication. Laws change frequently so we caution readers from relying on this information if some time has passed since publication. If you need specific legal advice please contact a lawyer, your community legal clinic, Justice Net at 1-866-919- 3219 or the Law Society Referral Service at 1-800-268-8326.