Owner FAQ

Management is a percentage of monthly rent, plus HST:

• Single unit: 10%
• Two to four units: 8%
• Five or more: 7%
• Larger portfolios: let's talk

Tenant placement is 50% of one month's rent when we manage the property, or one full month if you'd rather we just find and screen the tenant. Only charged when someone signs. No setup fee.

Nothing. Our fee is a percentage of rent collected, so if no rent comes in, no fee goes out. You don't pay us to watch an empty unit.

The only cost tied to a vacancy is tenant placement, and that's charged when someone signs. If we don't fill it, you don't pay for the marketing, the showings or the screening.

[NEEDS SEAN: confirm pre-authorized debit (PAD) rent collection before these autopay lines go live]

Rent is collected by automatic pre-authorized debit, so it doesn't depend on a tenant remembering. Your funds are deposited within seven days of the first, with a statement showing rent received, expenses and our fee, itemized.

We hold last month's rent deposits in a separate account and handle the annual interest owed to the tenant and the top-up when rent increases. Most owners don't know that obligation exists, and it tends to surface at move-out.

We keep a $300 working float for small repairs so a leaking tap doesn't wait on an email. The float is topped up from the following month's rent.

[NEEDS SEAN: termination notice period, e.g. how many days of written notice]

Written notice, no termination fee. We'll hand over the lease, the tenant file, deposit records and payment history, and coordinate with your new manager so nothing drops.

• Marketing and listing
• Showings and tenant screening
• Lease preparation on the Ontario standard lease
• Rent collection by automatic pre-authorized debit
• Rent payment reporting to the credit bureau, for tenants who opt in
• Maintenance coordination
• Annual rent increases, including serving the N1 and tracking the provincial guideline
• Last month's rent deposits held, with the annual interest and top-ups handled
• Quarterly inspections

[NEEDS SEAN: confirm the PAD rent collection tool before the autopay line goes live]

On inspections: we go out about every three months. While we're there we change the furnace filter and handle any small maintenance, so minor things get dealt with before they turn into expensive ones. Tenants get 24 hours' written notice, as required, and most are happy to have the filter done.

Regular hours are 8:00 to 5:00. Outside those hours we have an emergency line answered 24/7 for anything that can't wait: no heat, water coming in, a break-in, anything affecting safety or the building itself.

[NEEDS SEAN: emergency line phone number]

Non-urgent requests that arrive overnight get picked up the next morning.

If you'd rather use your own plumber or electrician, go ahead. Arrange it and pay them directly, and we'll coordinate access and confirm the work is done, at no charge from us.

If we arrange and pay for it, there's a 10% coordination fee on the invoice covering sourcing the trade, scheduling, access and follow-up.

We keep a $300 float so small repairs happen quickly rather than waiting on an email. Larger non-urgent work gets your approval first. Emergencies and anything affecting heat, water or safety are never held up for approval. We deal with it and tell you after.

Yes, for tenants who opt in. Their on-time payments get reported to Equifax, which helps them build credit history.

The side effect that matters to you: when a tenant knows their payment history is attached to their credit file, they pay on time more reliably. Missed payments are reported too, and tenants are told that clearly before they opt in.

We send every interested applicant a full application, then build a complete picture rather than judging on one number.

• Credit history, not just the score, and what it shows about how someone handles obligations over time
• Employment, including how stable the position looks
• Income, weighed alongside everything else rather than as a fixed ratio
• Rental history and previous landlord references

We weigh those together, because a single cutoff passes bad tenants and rejects good ones. We keep notes on every application so decisions are consistent and we can explain how any one of them was reached.

We then bring you the strongest candidates with the file behind each, and you make the final call. Screening is normally done within a few days of a completed application.

Yes. Some owners want to see every qualified application, others want our top two or three with the reasoning. Tell us which you prefer. Either way nothing gets signed without you.

What we won't do is help decline someone on a ground protected by the Human Rights Code, including family status, marital status, age, disability or receipt of public assistance. That protects you as much as it protects the applicant.

We handle the paperwork side. Serving notices, preparing the file, keeping records clean so nothing gets tossed on a technicality, and flagging a problem the first time rent is late rather than three months in.

We don't represent you at the hearing. In Ontario only a licensed lawyer or paralegal can do that, and we'll connect you with paralegals we work with.

We run the same process every time, so nobody is guessing.

Rent is due on the first. If it hasn't arrived by the third, we call to find out what's going on and look for a workable arrangement, which we put in writing.

If there's no payment or arrangement by the fifth, we serve the N4. That's a formal notice, not an eviction, and it's void as soon as the rent is paid. We serve it consistently rather than case by case, because Board hearings take months to schedule and because applying the same rule to everyone is the only fair way to do it.

If fourteen days pass without payment, we file the L1 and connect the owner with a paralegal for the hearing. Owners hear from us the first time rent is late, not months later.