Found a $1500 Loophole in My Ontario Lease After My Landlord Raised Rent 4.2%

Miles Robinson · 2026-10-02T20:05:04.387652+00:00

My landlord in Hamilton handed me a rent increase notice in March for 4.2%, way above the 2.5% cap I thought was the law. I called the Landlord and Tenant Board and a guy there explained the catch: if a building was first occupied for residential use after November 15, 2018, it's exempt from the rent cap. Mine was built in 2021, so the cap didn't apply to me at all. But I dug through my lease and found a clause where he'd agreed in writing to keep increases at the guideline for the first two years. That signed promise became my leverage. I sent him a one page note quoting his own lease language and he pulled the increase back down to 2.5% within a week. Has anyone else used a written clause in their own lease to push back on a rent hike, and did it hold up if things got serious?

Guest Forum

Loading…

Found a $1500 Loophole in My Ontario Lease After My Landlord Raised Rent 4.2% | Canadian Housing Chat - Guest Forum