More than 30,000 Ontario landlords have signed a petition urging the Ford government to implement a “simple solution” that would address delays at the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) and expedite long-overdue evictions for non-payment of rent.
Specifically, the petition calls for new legislation that would implement a process whereby an application made by a rental housing provider to the LTB tribunal for eviction of a tenant for non-payment of rent shall be automatically ordered ex parte without a hearing, subject to proof provided to and deemed satisfactory by an appropriate judicial body, similar to the process currently used in BC.
“We estimate that Ontario rental property owners collectively lost upwards of $1 billion in irrecoverable rent arrears (not including property damage, extortionate “cash for keys” schemes, legal costs, etc.) annually due to the LTB delays to process evictions for non-payment of rent,” the open letter to Doug Ford reads. “We further estimate that you instantly obliterated $2.23 billion in rental property equity when you froze the annual rent increase at 0% in 2021.”
According to Ontario landlord Christopher Seepe, who submitted the petition on behalf of the sector, this is arguably one of the most significant displays of housing provider solidarity ever witnessed within the Ontario rental property community.
“It calls for the Ontario government to implement an elegant, simple and quick solution that can directly add thousands, if not tens of thousands, of rental units to Ontario’s rental housing inventory within six months or so,” he asserts. “It will also significantly improve each tenant’s ability to qualify for a rental unit without being subjected to a disproportionately high level of qualification.”
As Seepe points out, Ontario is the only province that lost more rental housing than it produced in 2023, resulting in a net inventory loss of over 6,500 units last year alone. The petition and accompanying open letter were sent to Premier Ford, the Attorney General’s office, Ministry of Housing and all 124 MPPs, on February 29th and continues to grow with new signatures daily.
“Tenants don’t build or operate rental housing. They don’t collect and remit tens of billions of dollars in municipal property taxes annually, nor do they risk their life savings by taking on extraordinary financial, legal and emotional risks to provide a fundamental service to society without which no municipality can grow,” the petition states. “To quote Quebec’s Housing Minister, France-Élaine Duranceau in her defence of Bill 31 in June 2023, ‘The landlord owns the building, they invested in it and took the risks, and it should be up to them to decide who lives there.’”
Ontario landlords are urging the Ford government to consider implementing legislation similar to BC’s, which grants housing providers the ability to issue a 10-day eviction notice after it has been deliberated upon and approved by an adjudicator. According to Seepe, this approach has helped solve arguably 80 per cent of province’s issue.
“Ontario’s Residential Tenancies Act and the LTB’s Tenant Responsibilities brochure clearly state that a tenant cannot withhold rent for any reason, so there’s nothing for an LTB adjudicator to deliberate,” he adds. “We estimate that fulfilling this demand will immediately reduce the LTB’s current caseload by 41 per cent and reduce the multi-year case backlog by perhaps 50 per cent. It will also substantially decrease current extortionate “cash for keys” schemes.”
The petition can be found here: www.change.org/auto-evict
I agree with the above petition. There are more issues like AGIs and low annual rent increases in the face of high inflation and high interest rates.
What needs to be addressed is if the landlord is “legally” renting the units, and if the rented units themselves are legal and built to proper building codes. I discovered months after moving into my current basement unit that it is not a legal unit, or built to code.
This is all well and fine, but how about the wrongful evictions by greedy landlords looking to collect higher rents?
And as to cash for keys it’s landlords suggesting this, not tenants, for the same reason – greed. Furthermore if landlords are to be allowed to evict good tenants without a good reason, it should cost them a fair amount; tenants are being uprooted without merit, having to move, and possibly having to pay more elsewhere. Added to any cash for keys, these landlord should have to cover a years rent differential as well.
Removing LTB authorization for all landlord-occupied dwellings of 4 units or less would help offset some of the damage done to homeowners by the current legislation and LTB.
Currently homeowners lose control over their property when a tenant is even in the basement. The value drops immediately and the homeowner is put under significant stress when the tenant disrupts one’s life and then goes into default.
Our laws must protect owners in their own homes. This change would provide confidence for people to rent out vacant rooms.