Liability of Landlord for Animals of Tenant:

Question: Can an Ontario landlord be liable if a tenant’s animal escapes through a damaged fence and injures someone passing by?

Answer: Yes. In Ontario, a landlord has a statutory duty under the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 to provide and maintain the residential complex, including fencing, in a good state of repair and for health and safety standards, and the Regulation requires exterior fences to be structurally sound and free from hazards, so failure to inspect and repair known fence hazards can create liability even if the landlord is an absent owner.   In Youssef v. Redi-Mix Limited, 2018 ONSC 6409, the court found the landlord negligent for not having inspection and repair procedures despite knowing the tenant kept donkeys, and it held damages were for trial after a passer-by was injured when animals escaped through a poorly maintained fence.   If you need help assessing landlord liability or filing a claim in Ontario, DefendCharges.ca™ can help you understand your options; call (647) 559-3377 for a free 15-minute consultation.

Add this website to Google Preferred Sources

Landlord Liability for Tenant Animals

It may be difficult to think of a scenario where a landlord is deemed legally liable for injuries suffered by a third party person who is passing by the rented premises and is injured in an incident involving an animal owned by a tenant; however, such a scenario has actually occurred. Furthermore, the reasoning for liability upon the landlord was legally sensible.

Note: Please contact DefendCharges.ca™ by phone at: (647) 559-3377 to discuss any specific questions that you may have.

The Law

This actual scenario occurred in Youssef v. Redi-Mix Limited, 2018 ONSC 6409 (which was upheld by the Court of Appeal and where leave for appeal to the Supreme Court was denied). In the Youssef case, Redi-Mix was the owner and thus landlord of a property rented to a tenant.  The tenant owned donkeys that were kept upon the rented property.  Redi-Mix knew that the tenant owned the donkeys and that the tenant was using fenced fields for grazing by the donkeys; however, despite such knowledge, Redi-Mix failed to implement procedures for inspecting and repairing the fences, if or when necessary.  Subsequently, a serious incident occurred when Mr. Youssef struck a donkey, or donkeys, that escaped from the field through the fence that was poorly maintained by Redi-Mix.  Mr. Youssef sued Redi-Mix and when determining liability against Redi-Mix, the court said:

As explained by the court in the Youssef case as provided above, a landlord is statutorily obligated to maintain a rental unit and the rental complex, including the fences that are intended to keep animals, that may be owned by the tenant, from escaping the property.  This statutory obligation to maintain the rented premises is prescribed within the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, S.O. 2006, Chapter 17, as well as the General Maintenance, O. Reg. 517/06 regulation to the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, wherein each it is respectively stated:

Conclusion

Although a landlord is often an absent landlord, meaning living away from the rental premises, and is therefore without direct or immediate possession of the rented property, the landlord does remain obligated by law to perform the maintenance of the rental unit and the rental complex. Accordingly, a landlord may, upon failing to properly maintain a rental unit or rental complex, be held liable if the failure to perform proper maintenance causes or contributes to injuries or damage.  This liability risk applies even for scenarios involving the escape of an animal owned by a tenant where the animal escapes through a poorly maintained fence and causes injury to a neighbour or person passing by.