Introduction
The only way a landlord can evict a residential tenant in Ontario is by order of the Landlord
Tenant Board ("LTB") is a tribunal that operates like a court but is less formal. The
eviction process has two steps: the Landlord issues the tenant a notice; once the notice
provisions have been satisfied, the Landlord applies to the LTB for an eviction. The LTB
schedules a hearing and renders a decision. Provided the LTB does issue an eviction order
if the tenant does not leave on their own accord, the Landlord applies to courts to enforce the LTB order.
This process is fraught with details which must be adhered to and is daunting for a typical
landlord. For instance, the notice period is different depending on the reason for the eviction. There are different requirements for the termination date. There is a specific way
the number of days of the notice period is to be counted. The number of days deemed for
delivery depends on the delivery method selected.
Besides navigating all this, landlords' most troubling issue is the long wait for a
hearing date. The wait for a hearing date for an eviction for non-payment of rent has been
six to nine months. Recently, with LTB's concerted efforts to improve wait time, I have
heard that the wait may be five months. Assuming a notice period of one month, we are
looking at six months before a hearing. If necessary, the wait for enforcement can be another six to eight weeks. We are looking at seven months to a year for eviction and enforcement for non-payment of rent.
Background
Our client owns a residential property she acquired five years ago with a tenant in place. Despite the lack of a renewed lease, the tenant continued to reside in the property on a month-to-month basis. However, the tenant stopped paying rent, leading the Landlord to engage our law firm for assistance in evicting the tenant. At the hearing, it was revealed that the tenant's rent arrears had accumulated to over $10,000.
Issue
The tenant alleged:
• Rent increases were not properly done and therefore not effective,
• He did not receive a copy of the lease,
• The Landlord did not do maintenance and repairs.
The tenant did not dispute that he did not pay rent.
Results
We obtained a 9-page eviction order detailing the LTB's analysis and decision on
each of the issues raised. The tenants voluntarily vacated the premises once the LTB issued the eviction order, so enforcement was unnecessary. We are now working with the Landlord to enforce the payment provisions for the LTB order. In addition, the Landlord is settling possible additional claims for damages to the premises.
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