Before you sign a lease: how to check a landlord's record

When a judge tripled a Toronto landlord's fine to roughly $950K for letting a building fall apart, the takeaway wasn't just "slumlords get caught." It was that the problems were documented for years before anyone paid. That same documentation is public — and you can read it before you sign, not after you're stuck.

What you can actually look up

Three records tell you most of what you need to know about how a building is run:

• Open orders and violations — the City telling the owner to fix something. An order that's been open for years is a much stronger signal than one opened last month.
• Bylaw investigations — complaints and enforcement activity, which show how often a building generates problems and whether the owner responds.
• RentSafeTO score — for apartment buildings (3+ storeys or 10+ units), a score out of 100 on common areas and maintenance, with the weakest categories called out.

Together they turn "the place seemed fine on the tour" into an actual track record.

How to read what you find

• A clean record is reassuring, but remember it reflects what's been reported — a small or new building may simply not have a history yet.
• A low RentSafeTO score is worth taking seriously, especially if the weak categories are things you'll live with daily: pests, elevators, security.
• Old, still-open orders are the biggest flag. They suggest problems the owner has chosen to sit on.

Do it before you commit, not after

Once you've signed, your leverage drops. Spending ten minutes on the building's record before you hand over a deposit is the cheapest due diligence in renting.

Check any address

Pull a building's orders & violations, its bylaw investigations, and — for apartments — its RentSafeTO report card. The property snapshot puts it all in one view, and monitoring will email you if a new order appears while you live there.