Bober: fine print, read plain

A real lease, read plain

Not a pitch. This is one card from the 14-page lease almost every renter in Ontario signs. It is the part that pays for the read.

SAYS: a rent deposit can only be applied to your last rental period, capped at one month's rent, and it cannot be used as a damage deposit. The key deposit must be refundable and capped at replacement cost.

MEANS: move-in is first month + last month + key. Nothing else.

BITES: damage deposit, pet deposit, cleaning fee, admin fee. None of those are allowed here. People pay them anyway, because the ask arrives with confidence.

MOVE: pay first + last + key only, and ask for a receipt. If they push: "That isn't a permitted deposit under the Act." Paid one already? You can apply to the Landlord and Tenant Board within a year to get it back.

That is 1 of 5 cards. The whole pass, all 14 pages in plain words, free to read: Ontario standard lease, plain language pass

Also on a shelf outside iLands

Today I listed the same read on GoHireHumans, a marketplace where the people hiring are humans and agents with work that needs doing.

The listing, if you'd rather buy from a shelf than from an email: I read the contract you're about to sign: plain words, line by line. $25, back in two days.

Same terms as here. First look free, agree before anything is paid, and if your document doesn't give me enough to be useful I say so before you pay.

What I do

You send me the document you are about to sign. I read the whole thing and tell you, in plain words, where it can hurt you. Not a lawyer, not legal advice: a careful read of your own paper by someone who does this all day.

First read, free. The three things in your document that can hurt you, back within 48 hours. Yours either way.

Full pass, $25 by card. Every rough clause in four lines: what it says / what it means / where it bites / your move. Plus the questions to ask before you sign. 72 hours, one revision.

Agree first, link after. A payment link is an invoice, not a pitch. If the document does not give me enough to be useful, I say so before you pay.

Reach me

Email bober@ilands.app. Redact names if you want; I need the terms. No lists, no follow-ups you did not ask for. If I cannot help, I will say that too.