Content & Community Guidelines

Every listing should describe a real place that is actually available, posted by someone who has the right to rent it out.

• Only post a property or room you own, manage, or are otherwise allowed to rent or sublet.
• State the real monthly rent. Say clearly what it includes (for example utilities, internet or parking) and mention any other regular costs up front.
• Describe the property accurately: the type of home, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, which spaces are shared, amenities, and the date it becomes available.
• Pin the location as accurately as you can and choose the correct city and province.
• Do not advertise a low price to attract interest and then ask for more, or leave out costs that change the real picture.
• Edit or delete your listing as soon as the space is rented or no longer available.

• Post each available space once. Do not repost the same unit or room to push it back to the top of results.
• If you have several units, give each its own accurate listing rather than one listing that stands in for many.
• Listings are for homes and rooms to rent. Items for sale, commercial services, job offers and other unrelated ads do not belong here.

• Photos must show the actual property being listed and reflect its current condition.
• Use photos you took yourself or have permission to use. Do not copy photos, descriptions or floor plans from another listing or website.
• Avoid showing people in your photos. Never post an identifiable person without their permission.
• Do not include personal documents, mail, licence plates or anything else that identifies someone.

Muslim Rentals removes the location and camera information stored inside photo files when you upload them. What a photo shows can still identify a place or a person, so check your photos before posting. The Safety Guidelines have more tips.

When you post, you can choose an audience label to describe who your space is suited to: Brothers, Sisters, Families, or For anyone. The label is a description you choose to help people in the community discover homes that fit how they live, for example a room in a shared home. It is not an eligibility rule set or enforced by Muslim Rentals, and Muslim Rentals does not decide who may rent a property. You remain responsible for complying with applicable federal, provincial, territorial and municipal housing and human-rights law.

Human rights law in every province and territory generally prohibits discrimination in housing. Depending on the jurisdiction, protected grounds include sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, creed (religion), marital status, family status, age, race, ethnic origin, citizenship, disability and receipt of public assistance or source of income. The grounds and wording differ between jurisdictions. Whether a preference about who may rent is permitted depends on the applicable law and the circumstances. Some of these laws contain limited exceptions, such as for certain shared accommodation. These exceptions are narrow, differ between provinces and territories, generally do not cover a self-contained unit, and in some places may not apply once a space is advertised publicly, including online.

If you use an audience label, you are responsible for making sure your listing, and how you choose a tenant or housemate, complies with the law that applies where the property is located. If you are unsure whether a preference is permitted in your situation, consider choosing For anyone, contact your provincial or territorial human rights commission, or get legal advice.

Describe the space and the arrangement. Helpful details include a shared kitchen and bathroom with the owner's family, an alcohol-free home, no smoking on the property, a separate entrance, or being close to a masjid or transit.

The following are not allowed:

• Using a label, title, description or message to refuse, discourage or exclude people on a protected ground where the applicable law does not allow it.
• Restricting a self-contained apartment, suite or house to members of one faith, one sex or one type of household where the applicable law does not allow it.
• Statements such as “no children”, “no newcomers” or “no one on assistance”, or any listing that excludes people by race, ethnicity, citizenship or disability.

• No fake listings: listings for places that do not exist, are not available, or that you have no right to rent.
• No misleading listings designed to collect money, personal information or identity documents.
• Do not ask for a deposit, “holding fee”, application fee or any other payment before the person has had a fair chance to view the property (in person or by live video) and confirm who they are dealing with. Ask only for payments the residential tenancy law where the property is located allows; these rules vary by province and territory, and some limit what can be collected in advance.
• Do not pretend to be someone else, including a landlord, property manager, agent, owner, another user, a community organization, or Muslim Rentals itself.
• No fake payment confirmations, overpayment schemes, links to fake “verification” or “rental history” sites, or other deceptive tactics.

Disagreements happen. Abuse does not belong here.

• No harassment: insults, repeated unwanted messages, intimidation, or continuing to contact someone after they have asked you to stop.
• No threats of violence or harm against anyone, and no encouraging others to cause harm.
• No hateful or abusive content that attacks people because of their religion, race, ethnicity, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability or another protected characteristic.
• No content that promotes or glorifies violence or violent extremism.

• No sexual or sexually suggestive content, and no requests for sexual favours, including offering housing in exchange for them.
• Nothing that sexualizes, exploits or endangers children.
• No exploitation of people, including human trafficking or forced labour.
• No content that offers, promotes or arranges illegal activity, such as illegal sublets you are not permitted to make, drug dealing, money laundering or identity fraud.

• Do not post or share anyone else's personal information, such as their address, phone number, workplace, photos or identity documents, without their permission.
• No doxxing: publishing information to expose, target or intimidate someone.
• Do not share screenshots of private conversations to shame or harass someone. If a message breaks these guidelines, report it instead.
• If you collect information from applicants, ask only for what you genuinely need and handle it with care.

Messaging is for genuine conversations about a listing, such as asking questions, arranging a viewing or discussing terms.

• Do not send bulk, copy-and-paste or unsolicited messages to people who have not shown interest.
• Do not use messages to pressure, rush or intimidate someone into a decision or a payment.
• Do not send suspicious links or ask people to log in somewhere else to “confirm” anything.
• Respect it when someone says they are not interested.

Messages are stored on our servers and are not end-to-end encrypted. Administrators and moderators can access conversations for safety and moderation purposes, such as reviewing a report. See the Privacy Policy.

• No advertising, promotions or recruitment unrelated to the listing being discussed.
• No chain messages, referral schemes, or pitches for investments, loans or other services.
• Do not use Muslim Rentals to collect contact details for marketing or to send commercial messages people did not ask for.

Muslim Rentals has features that protect people's privacy and limit abuse. Do not try to get around them. This includes:

• creating extra or fake accounts, or opening a new account after yours has been suspended or removed;
• working around a messaging restriction or other moderation action;
• trying to uncover a listing's exact address or other details that are not shown publicly;
• scraping, bulk-copying or automating access to listings, profiles or contact details;
• interfering with the site's security or normal operation, or getting around limits on posting or messaging.

Reports from the community are how problems come to our attention. When you are signed in, you can report:

• a listing, using the report button on the listing (for example as misleading or fraudulent, a scam, inappropriate content or spam);
• a person, from your conversation with them (for example for harassment, a scam, impersonation, inappropriate content or spam);
• a specific message, from within the conversation.

Each report lets you choose a reason and add details. If nothing fits, choose “Other” and describe the problem, for example a listing you believe is discriminatory. For anything else, write to muslimrentals.ca@gmail.com or use the Contact page.

Please report honestly. Filing false reports, or reporting someone to get back at them, is itself a violation of these guidelines.

If you are in immediate danger, call 911 or your local emergency number. Reports to Muslim Rentals are not an emergency service.

Muslim Rentals does not pre-screen listings or monitor all activity, and cannot guarantee that every harmful listing or message will be caught. Moderation is based mainly on reports: our administrators and moderators review what has been reported, look at the relevant listing, profile or messages, and decide what to do. They may also act on something they come across without a report.

A report is not proof of wrongdoing, and not every report leads to action. Reports where no violation is found are dismissed.

Depending on what happened and how serious it is, Muslim Rentals may:

• remove a listing from the site (the poster receives a notification when this happens; if a removed listing is restored after review, the poster is notified too);
• restrict a user from messaging a specific person, such as someone who reported them;
• suspend an account, which blocks sign-in and takes its listings out of public view;
• keep a suspension in place permanently; or
• permanently delete an account.

Removals, restrictions and suspensions are recorded with a reason. If you believe a decision about your listing or account was a mistake, contact us at muslimrentals.ca@gmail.com and explain why. See also the Terms of Service.

Repeated violations, even minor ones, may lead to suspension or permanent removal from Muslim Rentals.

Some conduct is serious enough for immediate suspension or account removal without a warning, including scams and fraud, threats of violence, sexual exploitation, anything involving harm to children, and returning after a suspension. Muslim Rentals may also refer serious matters to law enforcement.

These guidelines may be updated as Muslim Rentals and its community grow. The effective date at the top of this page shows when they last changed.