The Offer to Lease Agreement is a preliminary agreement to use prior to the tenant taking possession of the property instead of a Residential Tenancy Agreement (Full Lease). This document helps the landlord protect themselves against any fraudulent or malicious activities that may occur while the tenants are in the process of submitting their documents and funds. From our extensive experience representing landlords in the Landlord Tenant Board as well as the Ontario Small Claims court, we have learned that there is a key difference between a tenant and a prospective tenant. When a prospective tenant signs a Lease Agreement with a landlord, they can argue to have a right to occupancy regardless of how the preliminary documents check goes. Having a signed Lease Agreement, the landlord is forced to engage this matter in the Landlord & Tenant Board, which is biased against landlords and has a history of significant delays. By using the Offer to Lease Agreement instead of a Residential Tenancy Agreement, the landlord has not yet given any occupancy rights to the prospective tenants. Without a signed Lease Agreement, the prospect is not yet recognized as a tenant by the Landlord & Tenant Board. From the time that the tenant sees the unit and the time that they move in, there is a period in which checks and balances have to be met to ensure the tenant's documents are legitimate to avoid future conflicts. Often, this process is skipped or rushed, the lease is signed right away, and the tenant's documents are reviewed by one person for a very short period of time, leaving room for misjudgment and gaps that squatters and such can use to get by with fraudulent documents. When the tenants take occupancy, if there are any irregularities found in their documentation, it will be too late as they have already taken possession and the owner is forced to pursue them in the Landlord Tenant Board for a very long time, costing them lots of money. Once those keys are handed over, it will be very tough to get them back, and all of this is avoidable. You can protect yourself by A) using an expertly crafted Offer to Lease Agreement, and B) using professional tools to have the documents reviewed and the tenant's references scrutinized. You can find a copy of the Offer to Lease Agreement attached below.

The main difference between the two forms is the length and extensiveness of the forms; The Showing Inquiry Form; When pre-screening tenants with a full rental application, they are unlikely to submit the full form as it is very long and time-consuming. This is a short form which is designed to be quick and easy for prospective tenants to fill out while doing their unit search while ensuring to extract the necessary information for the landlord to evaluate the quality of the prospect. By pre-screening prospects, you can save time by only showing your property to qualified tenants. The Tenant Rental Application; is designed to extract much more details from the tenants such as each individual's income (in comparison to the total household income in the Showing Inquiry Form). As well as each tenant's work history, residence, reference, etc. This form is much longer and extensive and is typically filled by tenants after the showing when they are prepared to make an offer, or is requested by the landlord before the showing if the landlord needs more information to determine whether they are fully qualified to make an offer on the property.

Here in Ontario, it is required by law (RTA) that the landlord and tenant sign a government-issued lease agreement. This is a legal contract between a landlord and a tenant that outlines the terms and conditions of renting a residential property in the province of Ontario, Canada. The lease agreement sets out the obligations and rights of both the landlord and the tenant, including the amount of rent, the duration of the tenancy, the security deposit, and any other conditions or restrictions that apply to the rental property. Under Ontario's Residential Tenancies Act, a lease agreement must include certain information, such as the names of the landlord and tenant, the address of the rental property, the amount of rent and when it is due, and the length of the lease term. The lease agreement may also include additional terms and conditions that are specific to the rental property and the landlord-tenant relationship. It is important for both the landlord and the tenant to carefully review and understand the terms of the lease agreement before signing it. Any questions or concerns should be addressed with the other party or a legal professional before signing the agreement. Here at Rent Guard ™ our extensive experience in this field has allowed us to construct an amendment for landlords to use as an appendix to their Ontario Lease Agreement. These additional terms and conditions are carefully drafted to ensure your investment stays secure for the entire duration of the lease. A copy of these terms will be automatically attached to the lease agreement, if you wish to receive a copy beforehand you may submit a request via the Support Request Form.

Once you have submitted the request we will contact the tenants and request that they submit their documents. As each file comes in we will screen & review them promptly and notify you once each file is ready for your review. It is best to request the documents in the following scenarios; a) you are doubtful about the prospective tenant's declared information and want to have it verified b) you have already signed an Offer to Lease Agreement with the prospective tenants and now need their information verified Please note that we cannot guarantee that they comply but we will do our best to follow up with them and assist them with this process.

It is essential to perform a Credit Report Review on tenants before signing an Offer to Lease Agreement with them to ensure the validity of the information they have declared. Here at Rent Guard, we provide you with the basic information presented on a Credit Report and perform an Expert Review of the report providing you with the necessary guidance to help you make an informed decision. The best time to request a Credit Report for tenants would be when; a) they have already submitted a Rental Application and have been pre-approved based on the information declared, b) they are considered serious applicants and need their information verified. Typically it is best to avoid requesting a Credit Report if a prospect submits a Showing Inquiry Form or a Rental Application and cannot qualify based on the information declared. Once the Request has been submitted it will take approximately 5-6 business hours to process. Once done, you will be notified via email. Our hours of operation can be found at the bottom of ​our website​.

Once an owner submits the request, we will reach out to you to ensure we record on the ledger any payments that may have been made so far. After doing so we connect with the tenants to collect the remaining balance on the timeline that was previously agreed to on the Offer to Lease Agreement. With each payment made or missed, we will notify the owner accordingly. Please note that we cannot guarantee payments to be made by the tenants, we can only facilitate this process to the best of our abilities. Once the balance is cleared a lump sum payment is made out to the owner, or earlier as per the owners instructions.