Assignment of Rents in Residential Real Estate Transactions

By Mirjana (Mira) Markovic

When discussing a mortgage product with your broker, you will be required to disclose certain information so that the mortgage may be crafted in accordance with your specific needs. As part of this task, you will be required to disclose whether the property will be your primary residence or an investment. Where borrowers own a property that is or may be leased in the future, most lenders will require that either a general assignment of rents or a specific assignment of rents be secured against the borrower’s property in addition to the secured mortgage.

In most cases, lenders will have borrowers execute the general or specific assignment of rents in a form of a separate document however, some lenders choose to incorporate an assignment of rents clause within the mortgage agreement itself. Even if the mortgage document is silent about assigning rents, the lender’s right to receive rental income will be inserted into the mortgage as incidents of ownership (the retainment of the right to collect rent). Both the general and specific assignment of rents provide a degree of financial protection for a lender as both entitle them to collect rental income from the borrower’s tenant(s) if the borrower defaults on the mortgage.

The specific assignment of rents applies where the lender is only interested in a specific lease(s). This arrangement may be appropriate in situations where a property has one tenant under a long-term lease or where multiple lenders are taking security in a particular property and wish to divide specific leases and income derived from each. Once such a lease(s) expires or terminates, the lender will no longer be entitled to any rental income from subsequent new leases.

On the opposite end of the spectrum is the general assignment of rents. Once implemented, not only does it give the lender the right to rental income from current or future tenants and leases but it also provides the lender with the ability to exercise all of the rights of a landlord under any prevailing or new leases, assignments, or subleases. This type of arrangement is a more popular choice with lenders as it provides synoptic security.

Like a mortgage, both general and specific assignment of rents are usually registered against title to a property as a notice under s. 78 of the Land Titles Act^[1].

I hope that this article has provided you with some helpful information. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at mira@sorbaralaw.com.

^[1] R.S.O. 1990, c. L.5