One in ten landlords are victims of illegal subletting

10.0% of landlords found that a tenant had sublet his or her unit without authorization at some point in the past two years, according to a CORPIQ survey conducted in late June. The rate is slightly lower among landlords who live in the building: 7.6%.

Under article 1870 of the Civil Code of Québec, the tenant is required to provide the sub-lessee’s information to the landlord and obtain his consent. In the case of a sublease for tourist accommodation, this obligation is obviously never respected by the tenant. The Régie du logement is rather lenient towards delinquent tenants and generally requires the landlord to prove prejudice in order to issue an order.

It should be noted that a landlord may send a notice of non-renewal of a lease to a tenant who has sublet his or her unit for more than 12 months. The case law has already ruled that these 12 months do not have to be consecutive.