Thanks in part to SOLO landlords’ lobbying efforts and media presence, the Ford government has announced an increase in funding to the Landlords and Tenants Board (LTB) to address the delays that negatively impact small landlords in Ontario.
The official Ontario government statement:
“[We are] Investing more than $19 million to help the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT) and the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) to reduce their backlogs. This funding will enable the tribunals to appoint new adjudicators, have resources on hand for mediation, and resolve land use planning and tenant and landlord disputes more quickly.”
The Problems that Need Fixing:
The number one issue for small landlords and tenants is gaining timely access to justice through the LTB. Delays cause frustration and financial losses, which are very discouraging to small landlords and are making them think of leaving the rental market for good.
The LTB annual reports show that the number of adjudicators dropped in 2018, from 62 to 43 adjudicators. Although in 2020-2021, there was an increase to 82 adjudicators, only two of those were full-time hires; remaining 31 were just part time. The highest salary– for the Tribunal Ontario Chair– is $169,575 and for members (aka adjudicators) is $107,566. These salaries are not competitive in the current market, according to experts and may explain the high turnover in the ‘members and chairs’, which also contributes to the delays. The total operating budget of Tribunal Ontario (of which the LTB is a part) was $81,373,100 in 2020 and increased to $87,250,492 in 2021.
Skepticism from Small Landlords (on social media platforms):
While welcoming the news of increased funding, there is skepticism about the effective use of the ‘new money’:
One landlord writes: “No matter how much money is pumped into [the] LTB, it will not make much difference because [the] LTB is biased against landlords. Only a provincial mandate from Ford would make a difference. The government would need to mandate that all non-payments of rent have to be resolved swiftly to send a message to the tenants that don’t pay rent.”
SOLO provides Informed Recommendations:
A SOLO Board member points out there are “no cost” ways of reducing the delay by just changing the way the LTB operates: “The way files are scheduled can be handled inside the LTB. We (SOLO) have asked in multiple meetings with government officials that landlords with repeat, non-paying, professional tenants have their applications moved to the front of the line. All the information is in their databases.” Solo has made that proposal to the authorities and still waiting for its implementation likely after the election.
The Provincial Government is Listening to SOLO:
In February 2022, SOLO attended the Finance Committee Consultation that informed pre-budget consultations (Pre-Budget Consultation 2022 (ola.org) ); SOLO is mentioned on page 34 in the section dealing with Rental Affordability and Regulation.
One landlord summarizes: “I think we should probably be thanking SOLO’s efforts here and all the squeaky wheels that have been complaining to the media and their MPPs and ombudsman about these issues with the LTB. Unfortunately, a lot of suffering has had to come before an announcement like this, and obviously this funding was needed much sooner. But, at least, *something* is being done.”
