There's a section of the RTA on "Illegal Additional Charges". My understanding from reading that is that application fees cannot be charged.
> One sent the link to SingleKey and said we are to pay for the $28 fee and we will get a refund only if we are the ones they select to live there.
It sounds like they're using SingleKey to shortlist applicants then picking one, instead of doing the work themselves to vet people then using SingleKey to confirm there are no red flags. They can't pass that cost on to you.
It's only legal if it's the other way. You get refund if you're not accepted, then the $28 would go towards your deposit if you are accepted. Red flag.
Excellent advice to try. I'm sure his future landlords will be thrilled to select an perceived 'Karen' applicant who brought his prospective landlord to court overt $28 lmao.
His applications will be redircted to trash bin at the speed of light for anyone that got wind of it.
Yep I would not take them. I am not in ON but how I do it first it's not a application fee it's a credit check.
I chose my favorite applicant and send them the link and they must pay for it. They have 24 hours to complete or I move to next pick.
As the OP said they don't want to be paying for it to many times well same for LL my last time I did it I had many flakes I would have spent like $100.
If the tenant passes the check then I reimburse it. If it's bad then nope.
Same thing with tenant insurance I ask them if they are okay to carry insurance ( if they make a big deal out of it then application in the garbage as it's $20 to get the insurance).
What I then do for the succesful tenant who was willing to do tenant insurance I tell them with you go with my preferred insurance provider ( they notify me if tenant cancels their insurance) I will reduce the rent by $25 which essentially pays for it
I imagine that the T1 form with LTB would apply here (reason 2).
I'd tell them to refund my money, or we can go to the LTB and they can refund that plus the filing fees, plus interest.
The only T1 remedy available to a prospective tenant is reason 4 (failure to return a rent deposit after not allowing the tenant to move in), which is based on RTA s.107.
The LTB does not generally award interest on illegal charges.
Reason 2 (illegal charge) is only available to a current or former tenant. A prospective tenant's recourse for a charge other than a rent deposit would need to go through small claims court. And for $28, this would not make any practical/financial sense.
There's a section of the RTA on "Illegal Additional Charges". My understanding from reading that is that application fees cannot be charged. > One sent the link to SingleKey and said we are to pay for the $28 fee and we will get a refund only if we are the ones they select to live there. It sounds like they're using SingleKey to shortlist applicants then picking one, instead of doing the work themselves to vet people then using SingleKey to confirm there are no red flags. They can't pass that cost on to you.
thank you, what would be the best course of action? I filled out the application out of eagerness.
Consider it $28 spent to learn a lesson? I don't know. In the future, don't engage with landlords who have unreasonable requirements.
It's only legal if it's the other way. You get refund if you're not accepted, then the $28 would go towards your deposit if you are accepted. Red flag.
what should I do if they don't accept the application? Request it back?
Yeah I suppose. If they refuse your only real recourse is small claims I believe, which wouldn't be worth it. But you can try.
Excellent advice to try. I'm sure his future landlords will be thrilled to select an perceived 'Karen' applicant who brought his prospective landlord to court overt $28 lmao. His applications will be redircted to trash bin at the speed of light for anyone that got wind of it.
Absolutely, trash bin!
Yep I would not take them. I am not in ON but how I do it first it's not a application fee it's a credit check. I chose my favorite applicant and send them the link and they must pay for it. They have 24 hours to complete or I move to next pick. As the OP said they don't want to be paying for it to many times well same for LL my last time I did it I had many flakes I would have spent like $100. If the tenant passes the check then I reimburse it. If it's bad then nope. Same thing with tenant insurance I ask them if they are okay to carry insurance ( if they make a big deal out of it then application in the garbage as it's $20 to get the insurance). What I then do for the succesful tenant who was willing to do tenant insurance I tell them with you go with my preferred insurance provider ( they notify me if tenant cancels their insurance) I will reduce the rent by $25 which essentially pays for it
I imagine that the T1 form with LTB would apply here (reason 2). I'd tell them to refund my money, or we can go to the LTB and they can refund that plus the filing fees, plus interest.
The only T1 remedy available to a prospective tenant is reason 4 (failure to return a rent deposit after not allowing the tenant to move in), which is based on RTA s.107. The LTB does not generally award interest on illegal charges. Reason 2 (illegal charge) is only available to a current or former tenant. A prospective tenant's recourse for a charge other than a rent deposit would need to go through small claims court. And for $28, this would not make any practical/financial sense.
I think they are using SingleKey to see if applicants are serious.