Transient rentals make a comeback

Due to the changes in the declarations that the developers initiated and the rise in Internet advertising, transient renting of furnished condo units is flourishing.

Declaration allowing transient renting
This wording is from a declaration written in 1990 for 38 Elm Street in Toronto. It is very interesting as only the developer is allowed to run suite hotel rooms in the condominium.

4. UNITS
4.1 The occupation and use of the Units shall be in accordance with the following restrictions and stipulations:
(a) Dwelling Units
(i) Each Dwelling Unit shall be occupied and used only as a private single family residence and for no other purpose. No Dwelling Unit shall be used for commercial or professional purposes as these terms are or may be defined from time to time in the rules.
Okay, so far this is great. The residential units can be used as single family residences. There's more:
4.2 Restrictions on Transfer and Requirements for Leasing
(a) No owner of a Dwelling Unit, except the Declarant, shall lease such Dwelling Unit unless prior to entering into any lease agreement to lease, such owner has obtained from the proposed tenant an information statement in the corporation’s form setting out the number and relationship to one another of the intended tenants and/or occupants of the Dwelling Unit under the lease, whether or not the proposed tenant will similarly lease a Parking Unit from the owner or another owner of a Parking Unit, the licence number of any private passenger motor vehicle intended to be parked in such Parking Unit, the length of term of the tenancy, such other reasonable information as may be set forth in the rules of the corporation and a covenant that the tenant, occupant or guests from time to time, will, in using the Unit rented and the common elements, comply with the Act, the Declaration, the by-laws, and the rules of the Corporation, during the term of the tenancy.

Such owner, prior to the commencement of the tenancy, shall deliver said statement and covenant to the corporation endorsed by the owner of the Unit whose address for service and telephone number, in the case of an emergency, shall be noted thereon.

Until the corporation is in receipt of the aforesaid documents, duly completed and executed by the tenant and by the owner, the corporation shall be under no obligation whatsoever to permit or to provide access to the Dwelling Unit and/or Parking Unit and to the common elements by such proposed tenant including, but not limited to, the use of the
elevator designated for moving furniture and personal belongings into a Dwelling Unit.
This too is great language that all condo corporations should have in their declaration. The owner will give all the tenant's information and a copy of the lease to the management office prior to the tenant moving in or the corporation will refuse to allow the new tenant to move furniture in or use the common elements. (Can you believe the length of that first sentence? No wonder no one reads these new declarations.)

The big except
(e) Subparagraph (a) of this paragraph 4.2 shall not apply to the Declarant and any successor or assign which may become bound to the provisions of the City Rental Agreement. One hundred and twenty six Dwelling Units are subject to the provisions of the City Rental Agreement. Until the Declarant or any successor or assign which may become bound to the provisions of the City Rental Agreement no longer own any Units, the board shall not pass any by-law or rule which affects the right of the Declarant or any successor or assign which may become bound to the provisions of the City Rental Agreement to rent or lease a Unit, except with the prior written consent of the Declarant, its successors or assigns.



This is where we see that the developer has slipped in a big exception for himself. Minto kept 126 units for itself and they exempted themselves from the one-year lease requirements so that along with offering tenants unfurnished rental units, they can operate transient suite hotel units.

Different wording
This wording is in the declaration of a four-year-old condo in the west end where a subsidiary of the developer operates suite hotel units. It is no where as restrictive as the wording above.

Section 33—Use of the dwelling units
a) …each dwelling unit shall be occupied and used only for residential purposes, and for the business of providing transient residential rental accommodation on a furnished and/or unfurnished site basis (with or without ancillary maid, cleaning and /or laundry services), through short term or long term licence/lease arrangements, in accordance with the provisions of the applicable zoning bylaw(s) of the Government Authorities, as may be amended from time to time, and for no other purpose whatsoever, provided however that the foregoing shall not prevent or in any way restrict:

ii) any unit owner, or any property manager acting on behalf of any unit owner or group of unit owners, from leasing or renting any dwelling unit(s) in this Condominium from time to time, for any duration and on any number of occasions, and whether in a furnished or unfurnished state, with or without ancillary maid, cleaning and/or laundry services.

The vast majority of owners don't realize that they have agreed to share their home and prized amenities with an unknown number of budget hotel suites run by both professional rental companies and small-time amateurs.

Note the wording "used only for residential purposes". I believe that this wording allows owners to take in unrelated roomers and or boarders or to rent their units to persons who are not related to each other, for whatever length of time they please.

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