This is a reminder that the deadline for the delivery of the tenant information letters to existing tenants is Tuesday, November 30, 2021.

You will have received an email with the full text by November 27th including information about delivery, and a re-cap of the other requirements of the City of Ottawa’s Rental Housing Property Management By-law, with notes about the fines that can be imposed for failing to comply with the by-law. As it contains proprietary links and this is a public form, it was sent by email.

Below is an excerpt of the first part of the email...

Tenant Information letter

For the City’s template for the tenant information letter, click here: The City of Ottawa information template.

You need to keep proof of the delivery of the letter. That proof can be:

• A copy of the letter with a tenant’s signature
• An affidavit by you or your employee of having delivered the letter
• A courier receipt for having sent the letter
• A receipt for sending the letter to the tenants by registered mail
• An e-mail receipt or other acknowledgment of receipt by e-mail.

When there are several leaseholders, the letter can be delivered to one of them. That person is to share the letter with the other tenants.

The ability to go directly to delivery by courier or registered mail is a concession to COVID-19. After May 31, 2022, landlords will need to attempt to get a signature first.

Remember also that the tenant information letter needs to be given to all new tenants when they sign their lease package.

Other RHPM requirements and the fines

The Ontario Court has approved “set fines” so that a by-law officer can issue a ticket with a particular fine for any offence under the by-law. If you get a ticket, you can plead guilty and pay, or dispute the ticket. In some cases, you can ask for a reduced fine, but you should not count on receiving that.

For many particular offences, the set fine is the same regardless of how many rental units the offence affects, and how large or small the landlord is. There is also a “victim surcharge” which adds between $20 and $125 to the set fine.

For not having given a tenant a tenant information letter, the set fine is $500.

For failing to keep a copy of a tenant information letter given to a tenant, the set fine is $750.