Campbell Spence v Robinson

Tenant wins · Etobicoke · 2025-10-10

Adjudicator

Kyle Anderson

Dispute

Illegal Rent/Charge

Amount

<$5K

Landlord

S.R.

Tenant

T.S.C.S., J.K., K.X.C.

Landlord rep

Denise Ranger

What happened

The Tenants applied for a determination that the Landlord collected and retained money illegally. At the start of the tenancy, the Landlord collected two last month's rent deposits in addition to the first month's rent and a key deposit. The Landlord argued that the Tenants agreed to let the Landlord keep the extra deposit as part of a negotiated early termination of the tenancy (N11 agreement). However, the Board found that collecting more than one month's rent as a deposit is illegal under the Act, and parties cannot contract out of these statutory protections through private agreements.

The ruling

The Landlord is ordered to pay the Tenants $3,798.00 by October 21, 2025. This amount includes the $3,750.00 illegal second rent deposit and the $48.00 application filing fee. The Board ruled that the Landlord could not retain the extra deposit regardless of a previous private agreement with the Tenants to do so.