Can you rent out a mortgaged home?

Lender consent is required

You can rent out a mortgaged home only with lender consent and compliance with the loan, tax, insurance, and building rules. An owner-occupier mortgage is priced and underwritten on the basis that you live there, so moving out and renting long-term without authorization may breach the loan agreement, the fire-insurance terms, and possibly condominium bylaws or zoning. A temporary transfer — for example a fixed-term work posting — may be treated differently from a permanent move, and some lenders have procedures for this, but you must ask rather than assume.

Insurance, tax, and conversion

Renting changes more than the loan. Fire insurance for an owner-occupied home may not cover a rental, so the policy may need to change. Rental income is taxable and must generally be reported, with allowable expenses, depreciation, and interest treated under the real-estate-income rules — principal is not a deductible expense. If the plan is to convert permanently to an investment property, that is properly financed with an investment-property loan, not an owner-occupier mortgage. Notify the lender, insurer, tax authorities, and building manager rather than quietly renting out.

Key points to carry away: Renting out a mortgaged home needs lender consent; Unauthorized conversion to a rental can breach the loan, insurance, and building rules; A temporary transfer (e.g. a work posting) may be treated differently from a permanent move; Rental income is taxable and fire insurance may need to change. Use the linked guides and calculators for the full decision, and confirm anything material with the lender, a licensed broker, a judicial scrivener, or a tax accountant before you act.