Whether the last month’s rent be either June or December or February, some tenants decide not to pay their last month’s rent.
Even if the rent is unpaid, the tenant may vacate at the end of the lease. Unfortunately he is not obliged to pay the rent. But he remains nevertheless accountable and a case for non-payment of rent can be opened at the Régie du logement.
Here are some tips that may help you avoid being a victim of non-payment:
- When checking your potential tenant take the time to assure yourself of the behaviour and the way in which the tenant pays.
- Do not rely on just the result of the credit verification, the rent is the expense that the tenants will pay after everything else (credit cards, loans...).
- Do not rely solely on appearances and statements of candidate-tenants:
The candidate-tenant may have arrived in a Mustang and she may be dressed by Simons. So, the owner did not investigate because he thought she has enough money to pay since she drives a Mustang. The tenant never paid rent, because she was on welfare.
Another owner has not checked the tenant who worked as an engineer at SNC-Lavalin. But by contacting the Human Resources department at SNC-Lavalin, the owner learned that he has never worked for them and his name is not even registered at the Order of Engineers of Quebec.
- Do not ask for last month’s rent when signing the lease, the tenant could challenge immediately or anytime during the lease. This request is illegal and the Régie will order you to repay them. Also, in case of non-payment of rent you may have problems getting a judgement in your favour. However, you can ask for the first month’s rent quite legally. We recommend you to ask for payment of this amount in cash or by a money order from the bank.
- Open a file of non-payment before the end of the lease in order to have an address for the opening of a file at the Régie du logement.
The APQ is on your side and our thorough investigations will answer all your questions and look at the complete profile of your tenant.
Last month’s rent of the lease
