Paying Your Rent

Tenants are responsible for:

• Paying rent in full on or before the first of every month.
• Reporting all changes in income or household composition, and providing required income verification within 30 days of the change to ensure the rent is calculated properly.

CityHousing Hamilton is responsible for:

• Collecting rent on time.
• Timely rent calculations.

Rent Payment Methods

Effective January 2020 CHH will no longer be widely accepting cash for rent payments. Connect with a tenant support worker to find a cashless payment alternative.

• Pre-Authorized Payment (PAP) CityHousing Hamilton withdraws the rent from your bank account each month. Complete the EZ Pay Pre-Authorized Payment (PAP) Agreement form(PDF, 28.25 KB)
• Pay Direct from Ontario Works (OW) or Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) OW/ODSP pays CityHousing Hamilton directly each month.
• Cheque 
• Money Order
• Online Banking
• Telephone Banking 
• ATM Payment 
• Bank Counter

Third party payments are accepted.

How to set up Online/Telephone Banking
With a bank account you can send rent payments to CityHousing Hamilton at any time, from anywhere. All you need is your Tenant ID number e.g. (T0000000), and access to your bank account through the internet. If you do not have access to a computer or smart phone, you can also contact your bank to have them set it up for you.

Set up instructions:

• Step 1: Log into your bank account.
• Step 2: Go to bill payment options.
• Step 3: Set up a new payee (CityHousing Hamilton Corp.) 
• Step 4: Enter your tenant ID # as your account number.
• Step 5: Enter your rent amount.

If you need your Tenant ID, number call 905-523-8496.

Annual Renewals

Tenants who are rent-geared-to-Income (RGI) are required to submit income verification documentation on an annual basis. CHH sends out an annual renewal package to tenants 4.5 months before the tenant’s renewal date.  In order to continue to qualify for RGI housing, tenants must submit their income verification documentation on time. If you do not submit income verification documentation on time, your rent will be raised to market value. This can lead to eviction. It is very important that when you receive this package in the mail, you complete and submit it with your income information as soon as possible. If you need help completing or submitting this information, contact your Tenancy Administration Representative or your Tenant Support Worker.

Eviction Prevention

CityHousing Hamilton recognizes that some tenants will sometimes have trouble paying their rent. We will make every effort to prevent tenants from losing their housing due to financial reasons. Our Eviction Prevention Policy applies to both market and RGI tenants.  We recognize eviction as a remedy of last resort for CityHousing Hamilton and our staff will work with tenants to help them keep their housing.

When tenants get behind in their rent, CityHousing will work with them in the following ways to help avoid eviction:

• Acknowledge good rental payment history.
• Attempt to reach tenants via telephone, email or in person before opening an application for rental arrears at the Landlord Tenant Board.
• Negotiate a fair and reasonable repayment agreement for outstanding rent amounts.
• Offer the support of the Tenant Support Worker for connection with community resources that can help with rental arrears.
• Offer the support of the Tenant Support Worker for connection with community support services when other personal issues are impacting upon the ability to pay rent.

It is the responsibility of CHH to attempt eviction prevention with every tenant at least one time.

It is the responsibility of the tenant to respond to and engage in CHH’s attempts at eviction prevention.