Bizarre rental listing for shared bedroom asks tenants to "use deodorant daily"

Take a quick scroll through any rental website such as Kijiji or Facebook Marketplace and you’re bound to come across at least a dozen listings advertising questionable spaces or living arrangements in Toronto, from beds in kitchens to horrifying basements and even shared beds with the landlord.

The latest bizarre listing, recently posted on Kijiji, advertises a shared living space for $600 near Yonge and College Streets.

While it might seem like a sweet deal at first glance — especially when you factor in its proximity to the Eaton Centre and Yonge-Dundas Square — the space comes with a long list of asks and requirements, from using deodorant daily to eating meals prepared by the landlord.

The listing starts by specifically asking for two students, ages 17 to 22. “This area is for two males or two females, studious, quiet, non-smoking students who will keep their area clean, shower daily, and use deodorant daily,” the ad reads.

One of the most bizarre ads I’ve read
byu/Immediate_Twist_3088 inSlumlordsCanada

The price for the shared space also includes most meals, with dinner including either chicken, beef, pork, pasta, or fish, plus rice or potato and vegetables or salad.

“Lunch is prepared to eat at home or work or school and consists of 1 or 2 sandwiches or leftovers from a previous supper,” the lengthy listing continues.

Despite this, the listing does highlight that the living space is an “open area without doors” and that during “regular up hours,” the landlord will also use the area to eat and study.

“No guests or visitors. Visitors/guests including mine are not permitted in our apartment so our shared living space is respected. You can meet friends in the complex of food courts and shops,” the listing concludes.

You might also like:
• Apartment listing seeks girl to share a bed with a boy and do all of the cooking
• Someone in Ontario is renting a mattress on floor of shared basement for $420 per month
• "Looks like a dungeon": Horrifying private room in Vancouver listed for $500 a month

The unusual rental was shared on Reddit and resulted in dozens of confused comments about the listing’s living arrangement and strange personal hygiene requests.

“Telling them when they’ll shower and wear deodorant. Absolutely wild,” one person wrote. “Are they looking for children?” another user asked.

“This is 100 per cent worded to hide some details in plain sight,” one comment reads.

“I was too busy thinking about the free food and only two tenants (which is also common in dorms) to not realize the blatant ‘you will sleep in the living room and have no privacy’ — once I realized this I went from ‘Idk, this is a sweet deal for $600 in this economy’ to ‘…. oh, what a scumbag.'”