What can a Toronto landlord legally ask for on a rental application?
A landlord can ask for credit, income, employment, references, and ID — but Ontario's Human Rights Code limits what you can refuse over, and a rent-to-income ratio like the 30% rule is not a lawful sole cutoff. Here's exactly what you can request, how to verify it, and the lines you can't cross.
Tenant screening is where most of a landlord's risk is either contained or created. The goal is a consistent, documented process that gives you enough information to assess ability and willingness to pay — without crossing the lines the Ontario Human Rights Code draws. The package below is the standard for a Toronto condo tenancy.
The standard application package
A complete application typically includes: a completed rental application (the OREA Form 410 is the common standard), a current credit report or score, proof of income, written confirmation of employment, landlord and/or personal references, and government-issued photo identification.
Proof of income usually means recent pay stubs, a letter of employment stating position and salary, or — for self-employed applicants — a notice of assessment or recent bank statements. The point is corroboration: two independent signals that the stated income is real.
What you can ask for — and what you can't refuse over
You may ask for credit references, income information, and rental history, and you may use them to assess an application. What you cannot do is refuse an applicant on a protected ground under the Human Rights Code — including race, place of origin, family or marital status, age, disability, or receipt of public assistance.
Income is the most misunderstood point. Ontario guidance is clear that a landlord cannot reject an applicant solely because their rent-to-income ratio exceeds an arbitrary threshold (such as the old '30% rule') when other indicators — strong credit, savings, a guarantor — show they can pay. Use income as one factor, not a single automatic filter.
Verifying without overstepping
A Social Insurance Number is not required to run a credit check and should be treated as optional; many credit checks run on name, date of birth, and address. Collect only the personal information you actually need, store it securely, and don't retain unsuccessful applicants' documents longer than necessary — that minimal-collection, secure-storage, limited-retention approach is the expected standard of care for handling an applicant's personal information.
For references, a short, specific call beats a glowing letter: confirm the tenancy dates, whether rent was paid on time, and whether the landlord would rent to them again. Letters are easy to fabricate; a two-minute verification call is not.
Lawful caution versus a red flag
Legitimate reasons to decline include unverifiable income, a pattern of missed payments on a credit report, or references that don't check out. These are about ability and willingness to pay, applied consistently to every applicant.
The safest screening process is one you run identically for everyone and document the same way each time. Inconsistent screening — asking some applicants for more than others — is both a fairness problem and a legal exposure. A brokerage that screens to a fixed rubric protects the landlord on both fronts.
Can I ask for a Social Insurance Number on a rental application?
You can ask, but the applicant is not required to provide one, and you generally don't need it — credit checks typically run on name, date of birth, and current address. Treat the SIN as optional and don't make it a condition of applying.
Can I reject someone because rent is more than 30% of their income?
Not on that basis alone. Ontario human-rights guidance is clear that an income ratio cannot be the sole reason to refuse an applicant who otherwise demonstrates they can pay through credit history, savings, or a guarantor. Use income as one factor among several.
How much deposit can I collect with the application?
In Ontario you can collect a rent deposit equal to one month's rent (applied to the last month of the tenancy) and a key deposit equal to the actual cost of keys. Security or damage deposits are not permitted, so don't request one as part of the application.
Does FastLease handle tenant screening?
Yes. Every FastLease engagement applies the same documented screening rubric — verified income, credit checks, employment confirmation, and reference calls — applied consistently to each applicant, so the landlord gets a defensible decision rather than a gut-feel one.