Commercial Tenancies Act (landlord’s right of distress)

A tenant who falls behind on rent, or a buyer taking over equipment and stock at leased premises, may meet this remedy. In Ontario, the Commercial Tenancies Act says a landlord needs no agreement with the tenant to have the right of distress (s. 3), and that distress shall be reasonable (s. 43).

Whose goods can be taken

• Ontario: a landlord may not distrain on goods of anyone other than the tenant or a person liable for the rent, but this does not protect a person whose title comes by purchase, gift, transfer or assignment from the tenant, among the other exceptions in s. 31(2) and (3). Goods exempt from seizure under execution are exempt from distress except as the Act provides (s. 30(1)), and a tenant in default must give up possession, or offer to, to claim that exemption (s. 33(1)).
• Alberta: Civil Enforcement Act s. 104 bars distress against property of others, with exceptions that include a person who acquired it from the tenant and a holder of a security interest other than a purchase-money security interest.
• British Columbia: the Commercial Tenancy Act allows distress after a lease ends if made within a stated period, while the landlord’s title continues and the tenant remains in possession (ss. 3 and 4).

What to ask

Ask whether rent is current, and whether any goods you are buying sit at leased premises. Read how landlord consent to a lease assignment works and the landlord consent entry. This entry covers Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia only; check the rules in the province where the premises are.