Open a sessionFirst installment of rent and methods of payment
Notice to reader
Please note that the following article has not yet been updated since the coming into force of the new Real Estate Brokerage Act on May 1, 2010. The OACIQ positions which are conveyed in this article may have evolved since the date of its publication. It is your responsibility to ensure, at all times, that you are acting or that you are exercising your rights or recourse in accordance with the Real Estate Brokerage Act, its regulations or any other applicable law.
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Source: Régie du logement
Montréal, March 17, 2003 – This is the time of year when many people look for a dwelling and sign a lease. The Régie du logement thus wishes to remind you of certain rules with respect to payments. Remember that paying the rent is a tenant’s main obligation. When the parties sign the lease, the landlord may require the tenant to pay the first installment of rent cash in advance and even make it a condition for signing the lease. However, the landlord cannot require more than that, for example, a deposit either for the keys to the dwelling or as a safeguard against damage the tenant may cause. All other installments of rent are payable in full on the first day of the month or on the date agreed upon in the lease. If a tenant does not pay the rent on the day agreed upon, he is considered to be late in paying it. If a tenant is more than three weeks late in paying his rent, the landlord may ask the Régie du logement to terminate the lease. The landlord may file an application to terminate the lease also if the tenant is often late in paying his rent and if the landlord suffers serious prejudice as a result thereof. If the landlord agrees, the rent can be paid by regular cheque. It also can be paid in cash, by postal money order or by certified cheque. The landlord may not require, but may ask for, a series of postdated cheques. Tenants often prefer this method of payment. Landlords must collect the rent at the tenant’s dwelling, unless the parties agree otherwise. In exchange for each payment, the tenant has the right to request a receipt or an acknowledgment of receipt from the landlord. The Régie du logement’s Web site at http://www.rdl.gouv.qc.ca is packed with useful information on the law.
