Document Checklist for Your Real Estate Rental Application

To make your life a little easier and help you streamline your rental application process, here is a handy document checklist I use every day with my clients. This is the list of documents you will need to provide to your prospective landlord to rent a house of your interest.

• Equifax Credit Score with Report. Did you know that according to Canadian law, credit-rating agencies are obliged to provide you, upon your request, one credit report a year completely free of charge? There are only two credit-rating agencies in Canada that landlords generally deem trustworthy: Equifax and TransUnion. Here is the link to request your free credit report from Equifax. (As you can imagine, they will be in no particular rush to send it to you, so plan ahead and request your credit report a few weeks in advance.)
• Proof of Employment and Income:
  • If you are employed,
    • A letter of employment. This letter must:
      • be on the company letterhead,
      • state your current position,
      • describe your duties,
      • state the period of your employment with the company,
      • state your salary,
      • be signed and dated by your supervisor,
      • provide your supervisor’s contact information.
    • Three recent pay stubs.
    • Bank account statements showing your regular income and confirming to the landlord your ability to pay the rent regularly and in full.
  • If you are self-employed,
    • Notice of Assessment you received from CRA for your previous year’s tax return.
    • Bank Account Statements, showing your regular business income.
• Rental Application. Here is the link to the form that you can fill in. You do not need to provide your SIN number or your bank account details. What you do need is to give the names of good references who will speak well of you (and pick up the phone when the landlord calls; landlords always do call!) If you currently rent a house in Ontario or elsewhere in Canada, make sure you provide the contact info of your current landlord and, ideally, the one before that. Why? In my experience, prospective landlords almost never call your current landlord who may be tempted to give you a very good reference if they want to get rid of you. On the other hand, the prospective landlord will almost always call your previous landlord, so it is important to give their contact information. For now, please leave blank the address of your future rental property and the lease price.
• Government Issued Photo ID. Please send a scan or a photo of either your driver's license, passport, or PR card.

Prospective landlords review all these documents very closely to ensure that you are a reliable, trustworthy tenant. So, think of this checklist as your first step towards finding the best rental property in Ontario!