The rules of the game nobody explains to you
Seven things a landlord will never bring up first, with the official link for each so you can check it yourself.
-
Refuse a rent increase
A renewal notice shows up with a higher rent? You’ve got one month to respond, not a day more.
That doesn’t put you out on the street. You stay put while it gets sorted, and it’s the landlord who has to go make their case to the Tribunal. Their math for 2026 comes out to about 3.1%, worth keeping in mind before you agree.
-
Section G (aka clause G)
The lease has a box, section G, that everyone calls "clause G," and it has to show the lowest rent paid over the past 12 months.
If it’s blank, get it filled in before you sign: that’s the simplest fix.
Once it’s signed, the deadline depends on what went wrong: 10 days from signing if the rent you’re actually charged is higher than what’s written there, 2 months from the start of the lease if the box was never filled in at all.
-
Deposits are illegal
A landlord can legally ask for exactly one thing at signing: first month’s rent, in advance.
"Key deposit," last-month deposit, none of it holds up legally, whatever you’re told.
Refuse to pay it. If you already did, ask for it back.
-
Bedbugs and unsanitary conditions
Bedbugs, mold, a maintenance problem that’s dragged on for weeks: take dated photos and send the landlord written notice with a reasonable deadline.
If it keeps dragging, the borough can inspect on request through 311.
The Tribunal comes after that, and extermination stays the landlord’s job, not yours.
-
The Tribunal, for real
The Tribunal takes its time. The average wait for a first hearing was 3.9 months, per the latest annual report.
A formal notice sent before it gets that far helps a lot: it shows you tried to settle this without a hearing.
Emails, texts, photos: keep all of it. That record is what speaks for you on hearing day.
-
Reclaiming and eviction
Reclaiming (the landlord or family moving in) and eviction (subdivision, enlargement, change of use) are two distinct grounds: reclaiming only guarantees your moving costs, at the Tribunal’s discretion; eviction requires a mandatory indemnity of one month’s rent per year of occupancy, between 3 and 24 months.
Evictions for subdivision, enlargement, or change of use are actually suspended until June 6, 2027, a moratorium in effect since June 2024 — so check what ground is really being claimed.
Never sign anything on the spot. Not ever, not under pressure, not with a cheque waved in front of you.
-
Checking an Airbnb
Every short-term rental listing has to show a CITQ registration number. A listing without one is illegal.
Most Montreal Airbnbs are principal residences, never published in bulk anywhere: the official directory is the only way to check a listing number by number.
Sources for this guide
TAL — modifying a lease condition · Éducaloi — section G, the watchdog on excessive increases · Québec.ca — security deposits are illegal · City of Montreal — report a housing problem (311) · TAL — 2024-2025 annual management report · TAL — reclaiming a dwelling · Official directory of tourist accommodation establishments (CITQ) · TAL — eviction for subdivision, enlargement, or change of use