Maintenance & Repairs: Owner vs Tenant Responsibilities

Most maintenance disputes between landlords and tenants come from genuine confusion about who's responsible for what. Ontario's RTA has clear rules — but the rules don't cover every scenario, and the gaps fall to the lease and to common sense.

‍

What the landlord must maintain

Section 20 of the RTA requires landlords to maintain rental units in a good state of repair, fit for habitation, and compliant with health, safety, housing, and maintenance standards. This applies regardless of what the lease says or whether the tenant agrees.

Specifically: structural integrity, plumbing, heating, electrical, appliances provided with the unit, locks and keys, smoke and CO detectors, and any common-element issues that affect habitability.

What the tenant must maintain

Tenants are responsible for ordinary cleanliness of the unit, repair of damage caused by the tenant or their guests, and replacement of consumables (light bulbs, batteries in detectors, air filters where lease-specified).

Damage caused by negligence or wilful act — a hole punched in drywall, a broken window from misuse, water damage from a left-running tap — is the tenant's responsibility, regardless of the lease.

The grey areas

Several scenarios fall in between:

• Clogged drains: tenant’s responsibility if caused by tenant use; landlord’s if caused by building plumbing issues. Investigate before billing.
• Pest control: typically landlord’s responsibility unless caused by tenant cleanliness issues.
• Appliance breakdowns: landlord’s if appliance was provided with the unit; tenant’s if their own appliance.
• Snow and ice on balcony: usually condo corp’s, but may flow to tenant via lease for unit-specific spaces.
• Damage during break-and-enter: tenant’s loss for personal property; landlord’s for structural repair.

Photo documentation: the universal protection

Move-in inspections, periodic inspections (every 6–12 months), and move-out inspections should be photo-documented in detail. The photos serve as the baseline for any future damage assessment.

Without photo documentation, damage disputes at the LTB are she-said/he-said, and the LTB tends to side with the tenant in the absence of clear evidence.

Repair authorization workflow

When something needs fixing, the workflow that minimizes friction:

• Tenant submits request via portal or designated channel
• Landlord (or property manager) acknowledges within 24 hours
• Landlord assesses urgency (emergency / urgent / routine)
• If under pre-approved threshold, work proceeds and the tenant is notified
• If over threshold, owner is consulted with quote and recommendation
• Work performed; before/after photos documented; invoice closed in records

Emergency repairs

Emergencies — active leaks, no heat in winter, electrical safety — require immediate response regardless of pre-approval thresholds. CentreKey owners have a 24/7 emergency line that handles tenant calls; owners are notified of resolution rather than disturbed during the issue.

What constitutes an emergency is sometimes disputed. Photo-document, fix first, debate later. The cost of a wrongly-classified emergency is minor; the cost of a delayed real emergency can be significant.

Key Takeaways

- Landlord must maintain habitability — RTA section 20
- Tenant must maintain cleanliness and repair tenant-caused damage
- Grey areas (clogs, pests) often turn on cause investigation
- Photo-document every inspection — the universal LTB protection
- Emergency repairs proceed first; classification disputes resolved after