Coloka Blog

Rental tips & guides

Everything you need to know to search, publish and manage a rental or shared home. Updated regularly by the Coloka team.

📘

Practical guide

The complete tenant's guide

Lease, deposit, rights and obligations, recourse to the TAL: everything a new tenant needs to know.

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📝

For landlords

How to publish a listing that attracts

Photos, title, description, price: 7 golden rules to attract good tenants in less than a week.

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Roommate guide

Finding a roommate in Montreal — student guide

Prices by neighborhood, vetting roommates, lease vs roommate agreement, rights and pitfalls. Complete guide for students and young pros.

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Safety

Rental scams — how to spot them

12 warning signs and 5 proven verification techniques to avoid losing hundreds of dollars.

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Housing law

Rent increase 2026 — calculate and challenge

TAL indicative percentages for 2026, detailed calculation method, and steps to refuse an abusive raise.

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✅

Apartment viewing

Apartment viewing — complete checklist

50 things to inspect in 30 minutes and 15 questions to ask the landlord before signing the lease.

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Housing law

Breaking a lease

4 legal cases, lease assignment, sublet, indemnity, full procedure to leave before lease end.

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Moving

July 1 — The complete moving guide

90-day timeline, movers, hydro/internet, address change, plan B and mistakes to avoid.

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Housing law

Pets and rentals

Your rights, forbidden clauses, how to convince a landlord with your cat or dog.

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🗺️

Montreal neighbourhoods

Montreal neighbourhoods — tenant's guide

12 neighbourhoods compared: Plateau, Mile End, Verdun, NDG, Rosemont, Hochelaga... Prices, profile, transit.

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Move-in inspection

Move-in/move-out inspection

Room-by-room checklist, photo rules, written document, normal wear vs damage, common disputes.

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🏡

First apartment

First apartment — Budget and steps

Realistic budget, step-by-step procedure, tenant file, essential first-month kit, 7 mistakes to avoid.

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