Ontario’s Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) announced it has made some key form changes in an effort to improve the landlord-tenant conflict resolution process, which has been long deemed sluggish and unsatisfactory. Specifically, it has replaced the Advance Resolution Request (ARR) form with the following two new forms:
- Request to Withdraw an Application – Effective Septembers 30th, 2023, this form can be used by applicants seeking to withdraw their applications.
- Request for a Discontinuance Order Without a Hearing – Where the tenant has paid in full, including all arrears and the application fee, applicants can use this form to request their application be discontinued. An L1/L9 update sheet will no longer be required in support of a request for a discontinuance order. Instead, the applicant will now make a declaration and complete a draft order for the Board to review for issuance.
Moving forward, the memo states that parties seeking a consent order under section 206 should upload the Payment Agreement Form as a document type in the portal; there is no longer a need to also use the ARR form. The LTB said it will continue to accept the current ARR forms until September 30, 2023, after which, any ARR forms submitted will be returned and the applicant will be directed to complete one of the two forms outlined above.
“Overall, I think these are improvements for the landlord that will lead to faster processing of such matters,” commented Kristin A. Ley, Partner, Cohen Highley LLP Lawyers. “There is a little more work involved in the case of a discontinuance, but my hope is that by asking a party to submit the draft order, faster processing times will be achieved. At the same time, the Board has removed the need to submit an L1/L9 update with the request, so there may be a balancing out of the work involved.”
Ley also pointed out that the ability to submit the Payment Agreement Form on its own will benefit landlords in that it will reduce time spent preparing and submitting the former ARR form.
Other changes implemented by the LTB include updates to the Issues a Tenant Intends to Raise at a Rent Arrears Hearing form, which now requires the inclusion of a L10 application. Additionally, a new Videoconference User Feedback Survey has been added for proceedings held on Zoom. The survey, available in French and English, asks hearing participants for their feedback related to their technical experience using Zoom, appearing as a pop-up message linked to a Tribunals Ontario webpage. All feedback received is anonymous, and the LTB anticipates it will lead to “valuable insight and help improve the videoconference experience for those who come before our tribunal.”
Click here to see the memo: LTB-Stakeholder-Memo-Updates-July-4-2023-EN.pdf
