Can my landlord force me to use them to sell my mobile home?

The situation

I live in a mobile home park here in Ontario and I have been renting my spot for about three years now. My mobile home is actually mine, not the landlord's, but I am planning to move closer to my family next month. I decided to put my home up for sale to help pay off some debts, so I started looking for buyers online last week. However, when I mentioned this to my landlord, he got quite upset. He pointed to a clause in the rental agreement I signed back in 2021 which says that if I ever want to sell my unit, I am required to let him act as the agent for the sale. He is demanding that I hand over all the negotiations to him and he wants a significant cut of the final sale price as his commission. I have already tried explaining that I would prefer to find a buyer myself to avoid extra labour and costs, but he says it is a mandatory part of my contract. I am feeling very stressed about this situation. Am I actually allowed to sell my own mobile home privately without his permission, or is that contract clause legally binding on me?

Detailed Analysis

Under the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, you have the legal right to sell your own property without needing your landlord's permission. Specifically, "A tenant has the right to sell or lease his or her mobile home without the landlord’s consent"^[1]. This means you are free to find your own buyer online as you have already started doing.

Regarding the specific clause in your 2021 agreement, the law is very clear that such requirements are not enforceable. The Act states that "A provision in a tenancy agreement requiring a tenant who owns a mobile home to use the landlord as an agent for the sale of the mobile home is void"^[1]. In legal terms, "void" means the clause has no legal effect and cannot be enforced against you, as if it were never written. Therefore, your landlord cannot legally demand that you hand over negotiations to him or force you to pay him a commission from your sale.

While the landlord cannot force you to use him as an agent, he does have a limited right called a "right of first refusal" if your contract includes it. If you receive an acceptable offer from someone else, you must give the landlord at least 72 hours' notice before accepting that offer^[2]. This allows the landlord the opportunity to match the price and terms of the offer to buy the home himself^[2]. However, this does not give him the right to control your sale process or take a cut of the money from a third-party buyer.

Additionally, if you want to put a "For Sale" sign in your window, the landlord generally cannot stop you unless he provides a free, prominent bulletin board for all tenants to use for advertisements.

State, provincial, or local laws may add further rules, so you should check with local municipal authorities or a legal clinic.

Statutory Citations

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