Screen Tenants Legally in Nova Scotia

The Renting Guide says a landlord may ask applicants for standard information: name and contact details, information about their employment, and personal or landlord references. You may run credit and background checks, but you cannot force an applicant to give a Social Insurance Number.

Nova Scotia has no private-sector privacy law that the federal government has deemed substantially similar to PIPEDA, so landlords here follow the federal law. The Residential Tenancies Act itself has no screening or privacy section. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada publishes guidance for landlords and tenants that applies it.

Short answers are on the Ask pages about credit checks and criminal record questions. For a national overview, see how to screen tenants.

Section 6 of the Residential Tenancies Act says no one may demand, accept or receive money from a person for applying to become a tenant. The Renting Guide says the same: landlords cannot charge an application fee for a tenant to be considered.

Money taken before the lease is signed or before rent is due is treated as a security deposit. That brings it under the half-month cap. The Act also treats a person who takes an application fee as a landlord, and the applicant as a tenant, for any proceeding about it.

Do not collect a holding fee or a pet deposit either. A separate pet deposit is not allowed, and extra money beyond rent counts as part of the security deposit. For the rules on deposits, read the Nova Scotia landlord deposit guide.

The Human Rights Act bans discrimination in accommodation on these grounds: age, race, colour, religion, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, physical or mental disability, an irrational fear of contracting an illness or disease, ethnic, national or aboriginal origin, family status, marital status, source of income, political belief, affiliation or activity, and association with someone who has any of these characteristics.

Harassment on those grounds is banned too. So are notices, signs and ads that indicate discrimination, and evicting or retaliating against someone for complaining. A complaint must be made within 12 months of the conduct.

The Act has one exception written for accommodation: a single room in a dwelling where the landlord or the landlord's family lives in the rest of it, as long as the room is not advertised by sign, through the news media or through a rental agency. Other exceptions include a bona fide qualification or a reasonable limit prescribed by law.

The Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission lists these examples on its rental accommodations page:

• Saying a home is not available to people with children, same-sex couples, immigrants or members of a religious group.
• Refusing a renter whose income is Income Assistance, a student loan, Employment Insurance or other benefits.
• Renting to someone, then making them pay rent in advance or a larger damage deposit because of a protected characteristic.

Children. Family status means being in a parent-child relationship. Refusing applicants because they have children is discrimination.

Source of income. It is a protected ground. You may check that an applicant can pay the rent, but you cannot refuse because the income comes from assistance, a student loan or EI.

Disability. The definition includes reliance on a service dog, a guide dog or a wheelchair, and dependency on drugs or alcohol. The Commission says a landlord has a duty to accommodate medical requirements set out by a medical professional, such as a grab bar in a bathtub or a flat entrance.

Service and guide dogs. Under the Service Dog Act you may not refuse advertised premises to a certified service dog team because the dog will live there. The fine is $500 to $3,000. The Blind Persons' Rights Act covers guide dogs. The Service Dog Act does not protect pets, emotional support animals or therapy animals, and the Commission says it generally takes complaints about trained, certified and medically required animals.

Pets in general. No provincial law requires a landlord to allow pets. You may set reasonable rules, and they must be given to the tenant before the lease is signed.

Criminal record. It is not on the list of protected grounds in the Act. The OPC says background checks need the applicant's consent.

1. Write your criteria down before you advertise: income relative to rent, references, rental history and lease length.
2. Do not mention protected grounds in your ad. Describe the unit, the rent and the terms.
3. Ask each applicant for the same standard information: name, contact details, employment details and references.
4. Get written consent before a credit, reference or background check. Collect only what the check needs.
5. See ID and proof of income, such as pay stubs, without keeping copies unless you need them.
6. Call the references and note what you were told.
7. Decide using your written criteria. If you decline someone, do not cite a protected ground.
8. Sign the standard lease, Form P, and give the tenant the Act within 10 days of the earliest of the lease start date, signing, key handover or move-in.

Do not ask for more money from one applicant than another because of a protected characteristic. That is itself discrimination.

Under PIPEDA you must say why you are collecting information and get consent. The OPC says photographing a tenant's unit is a collection of personal information, so the landlord must identify the purpose and obtain consent. Cameras should not capture the inside of apartments, and any cameras in common areas should be explained to tenants by signs and policies before installation.

Keep applicant files separate from tenant files, and remove what you no longer need. This guide does not state a retention period, because the research behind it did not find one in official sources. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner can answer that question. A tenant who has a privacy complaint goes to the federal OPC.

Once you choose a tenant, how to become a landlord in Nova Scotia covers the lease, deposit and notice basics. This guide explains the rules in general terms; for a specific case, ask the tribunal or a licensed legal professional.