https://buttonwood.ca/rent-deposit-rules-changing-ontario/
Ms. Corvers then offered to pay one full year’s rent in advance ($90,000) to demonstrate her good faith and paid an additional $7,500 security deposit. Bumbia agreed to these terms and Corvers moved into the home in May 2013. After moving in, Covers brought an application before the court to have the extra months of rent and the security deposit paid back to her, on the grounds that these payments violated the terms of the Residential Tenancies Act.
The case was originally heard in October 2013. Mr. Bumbia’s side presented an email he received from Corvers’ real estate agent, which read: “Alison will pay 12 months’ rent upfront.” Based on this email, the judge ruled that the rent deposit was offered by the tenant (and not required by the landlord) and, as such, it was legal. The security deposit was not offered by the tenant, so it needed to be returned to her.
Corvers appealed the decision, and the case went before the Ontario Supreme Court in February of 2014. Judge Frank Marrocco upheld the initial ruling stating that, though a landlord can not require a tenant to pay more than the first and last month’s rent as a condition of the tenancy, if the tenant offers to pay more money in advance and the landlord accepts the payment, it is legal.