Mold in a Rental Property Before Sale: Landlord Checklist

A landlord dealing with mold before selling a rental should work through a short list: inspect the unit with proper notice, find and fix the moisture source, have the mold removed and documented, and keep the tenant informed throughout. Buyers of rental properties inspect closely, and an open mold problem with a tenant living in it can hurt both the sale and your position as a landlord. Sorting it out before listing costs less than doing it under a buyer's deadline.

Landlord checklist: mold before selling a rental property

1. Give written notice of entry. In Ontario a landlord generally needs to give 24 hours written notice stating the reason and a time of entry between 8 am and 8 pm. Check the Landlord and Tenant Board's guidance for the details.
2. Walk every room, including the ones tenants keep closed. Look at window sills, bathroom ceilings, closets on outside walls, behind beds and dressers, and under sinks.
3. Check the basement, the attic and the mechanical room, which tenants seldom look at.
4. Ask the tenant what they have noticed: smells, leaks, condensation, a fan that stopped working.
5. Photograph everything, with dates.
6. Get a written quote for any growth, with the cause named.
7. Fix the cause, then the mold.
8. Collect the clearance report and invoices for your sale file.
9. Recheck the area a few weeks later.

Where rentals grow mold

Rental units get used hard. More people per bathroom means more showers and more humidity. Near Western University and Fanshawe College, basement bedrooms in student houses are a familiar trouble spot: cool walls, closed doors, furniture pushed against the foundation and laundry drying on racks. Bathroom fans that are weak, broken or switched off because of the noise are behind much of it. So are slow leaks that a tenant did not report. Check these places first:

• Bathroom ceilings and the wall above the tub.
• Window sills and frames in bedrooms.
• Outside corners of closets.
• Behind furniture on basement walls.
• Under kitchen and bathroom sinks.
• Around the washing machine and any portable air conditioner.

Who is responsible, landlord or tenant?

In general, Ontario landlords are responsible for keeping a rental unit in good repair and meeting health, safety and housing standards, and that holds even if the tenant knew about a problem when they moved in. Tenants are generally responsible for ordinary cleanliness and for damage they cause. Mold disputes often turn on whether the cause was the building or how it was used, and that can be hard to prove either way. From a practical view, fix the building side regardless: a working fan vented outside, a repaired leak, a dry foundation wall. For a specific dispute, go to the Landlord and Tenant Board or a lawyer or paralegal. The municipality's property standards office may also get involved if a tenant complains.

Doing the work with a tenant in place

Remediation in an occupied unit takes planning. The work area is sealed off with containment and kept under negative air through HEPA filtration, so dust and spores stay out of the rest of the home. The tenant needs proper notice, a clear schedule and to know which rooms are off limits and for how long. Belongings near the area have to be moved first. If the tenant or a child in the home has asthma, allergies or a weakened immune system, suggest they ask their doctor whether to be elsewhere during the work. Most attic jobs here run $2,300 to $6,500 and most basement jobs run $1,200 to $9,500. We do the mitigation only, so line up a contractor for any drywall or paint afterward.

What a buyer of a rental will ask for

• The clearance report with before and after photos and moisture readings.
• Proof the cause was fixed.
• Any correspondence or orders about the issue, including property standards or Landlord and Tenant Board matters.
• Confirmation of the tenancy terms.

What you are required to tell a buyer, and how an existing tenancy carries through a sale, are questions for your realtor and real estate lawyer. In general a tenancy continues with the new owner, so the buyer inherits both the tenant and the condition of the building. That is why they look so carefully.

Start by sending the notice of entry this week and setting aside an hour to walk the unit with your phone camera. Whatever you find, you will be dealing with it on your own timeline.

Common questions