Legal or not? Regarding changing terms of 'lease'

[GoddessDigi]

I was just trying so hard not to cause issues. I mean, we were just starting to get back to 'normal' (I went a few weeks not saying a word to her, now will at least say hi and bye).
But oh well..
I'm hoping ANY of these places work out. One I am excited..really excited..a house on the street next to ours, renting the HOUSE. Or some apartments we found. (But most excited about a 4 bedroom house, lol.)

Edit:
Just called a nice real estate agent that I found a few weeks ago (by accident lol), and she's actually going to contact their house mortgage broker, and see if she can find any palces for us to actually BUY.. I was planning to next year, anyway...guess this just gave me a push.

[lessthannat]

That's exciting, you can also try Brampton not too far from Mississauga but the houses are cheaper there I find in comparison to Mississauga area
Maybe you can find a tenant and rain laundry terror on their lives in the near future lol ;-)

[GoddessDigi]

My husband is against Brampton because it's too far from his work.
Though, seeing as we lived in Brampton for a year, and that was BEFORE he got a car....lol (His parents live in Brampton, and we still go every weekend.)
But eh..
I told him, it is MUCH cheaper.

[cheekysaver]

Sweetie Document everything. She clearly has some anger issues she is putting onto you. Take pictures of the notice... write down dates and times of the occurrences... this thread has some good info for you to document... only document the lease breaking problems and leave all personal stuff out of it. This way when you break your lease you have the info to back it up and take it to court. She broke the lease 4 times, insufficient notice of a rent increase, one with the rent increase amount being above government standards, and once with the restricting of laundry access, then doing laundry on your day. If she switched gears on you 4 times like that while renting you a illegal suite you don't know what her next move will be... so take 15 minutes of your time and cover your butt.

If she gets at all rude once you start moving your stuff you can let her know your butt is covered and if she wants to keep renting out her illegal suite she should probably just let it be. (i have a feeling you don't want to take that income away from her so that just might be enough)... just make sure you have your stuff packed and the keys to your new place before you say something. Having proper documentation will work to show potential new landlords the reasons you broke your lease as well... it is very important. Good luck!

[erin9mmm]

...My landlady has been doing her laundry on MY days (at least 1 of my days, every week, usually 2). She changed the days to Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday, and she gets the rest. But she ALWAYS does at least 1 load on my days, and the majority of the time, she is washing her clothes LATE at night the day before my day, and then drying them on MY day.
.........

At first glance here is seemed like she was trying to avoid "On Peak" hydro times and stick to the low rate times (nights and weekends) for everyone in the house. If that was the case though she should have nicely discussed it with you.

[GoddessDigi]

Except that Wednesday morning is NOT a night or weekend...

[kmiecp]

We started looking today, called a few places.
I want to get one by Nov. 1st, so next week, I can go up and tell her she won't be getting any money, and to use my last month's rent. Because SHE broke the lease.

Just be careful that you dont't piss her off. As you probably know, in the GTA it is almost essential that in any rental application process your current/previous landlord will be contacted.

Also, in Ontario tenants need to give 60 days notice when they terminate their residency. If you don't she could go after you for that extra months rent (and as others here have said, she is not legally doing anything wrong by being a jerk about the laundry- even if it's in the lease) ...not to mention potential legal fees even if you are right on some of these disputes.

That's my advice. Be careful and good luck!!

[GoddessDigi]

The laundry isn't the only part of the lease she broke, though.
She raised the rent more than she was legally allowed to, and she also did not give us sufficient notice (literally, she printed up a new lease the same day rent was due, and I didn't get it until I went to pay her, so had to go back to the bank).

[GoddessDigi]

And going today to meet with someone about getting our own place *fingers crossed*.
So, we might still be stuck here until March..but at least we'll be in our own place right after.

[FallenPixels]

Then you need to contact the Tenants board about her changes, but even if she did break rules, they will contact her for a reference

[GoddessDigi]

I think she's just purposely trying to piss me off, at this point..
She put up a 'notice' on our top door window today, asking us to not 'slam the door'.
The ONLY way to get that door to close all the way is to pull it tight. It's like...swollen, or whatever, and unless you tug it, it gets stuck halfway. I never 'slam' it. Would she rather I just leave it open and unlocked?
And after I saw it, I pulled it off (cause it's bright orange construction paper, and obstructing my view out the door), and she put another one up, and when we got back, told me not to pull it down again.
Urgh.
I was contacted by the mortgage broker today. I think I'm going to report her to the tenant's board this week. And since it's an illegal apartment..... Well, I didn't want to be mean, but I'm beyond annoyed.
I've been really stressed lately, because I need surgery, and DS needs surgery, and with my mom's cancer..it seemed all at once. (Which, my landlady knows all this, so it seems like..the ultimate betrayal, that she's stressing me out like this, when I am NOT supposed to be stressing at all.) And I want to thank all you ladies/gentlemen(?) for letting me vent here. I am usually a calm person, so when I blow up..well, I REALLY blow up. And I need this place to vent, and I am very grateful for all the advice and support.
So again, thank you all.