Overholding tenant

A buyer meets the term when a business sits in premises where the lease has run out, or is about to. The statutes give the landlord specific remedies against a tenant who stays on, so the lease position matters to what is being bought. See what happens if a commercial tenant holds over after the lease expires and the entry on the lease renewal option.

Ontario and Manitoba

Ontario’s Commercial Tenancies Act, s. 58, makes a tenant, or another person who comes into possession under or in collusion with the tenant, who wilfully holds over after the term ends and after written notice from the landlord, the person entitled to the reversion or that person’s authorized agent, pay, for as long as the land is detained, a rate based on its yearly value that the section sets. Section 59 covers a tenant who gives notice of an intention to quit and does not deliver up possession at the time the notice gives. Under s. 74, a landlord may apply to a judge where a tenant wrongfully refuses or neglects to go out of possession after the tenancy has ended. Manitoba’s Landlord and Tenant Act has parallel provisions in ss. 52 and 53, and a Part III on proceedings against overholding tenants. The Government of Ontario notes that a signed commercial lease may take precedence over the Act.

What to check

This entry covers Ontario and Manitoba; check the rules where you are. Ask:

• When the lease term ends, and whether a renewal option has been exercised
• Whether any notice to deliver up possession has been given or received
• What the lease itself says about staying on after expiry