Delays to justice is Justice Denied and Landlords & Tenants are being denied Justice. These wait times are unfair to Ontario Landlords & Tenants and driving good people to near breaking points. It’s unacceptable, prejudicial to everyone waiting for remedies, and creating a loss in confidence to all who require access to Justice.
The government scapegoats Covid as a reason for delays but 7 years of experience in Representing Landlords and being before the Board, I can tell you that there were problems and delays well before Covid.
These wait times and excuses for long waits upset me. It upsets me to have Landlords crying in my office because they cannot afford their properties anymore. It’s upsetting to have elderly clients who are now concerned of their retirements because a few bad tenants have caused so much hardship. It is upsetting to see hardworking middle class Canadians falling behind because they’re carrying their investment properties, their primary homes and now suffering because of these immense delays. It gravely upsets me when landlords show pictures of thousands in damages and because of the delays, the tenants are inside continuing to cause damage.
I have clients with $50,000 in arrears, $10,000 in rental damages, and some who are so upset they’re loosing everything over delays. These are real stories of real landlords, facing real issues.
And it’s not just Landlords suffering either. Tenants are also being denied Justice over these delays. I have a couple of tenants living in horrid conditions by bad landlords and cannot access Justice because of the delays. The entire system needs to be overhauled, fixed and Justice needs to be restored.
There’s a right to be angry. Yes, we can be angry at the select tenants or landlords taking advantage but our anger should be directed to the powers that be. The powers that are holding hearings as a privilege instead of rights, powers that find these delays acceptable and powers that can resolve the issues but are neglecting to dedicate the resources in resolving the issues at hand. Those who control the situation are those we should be angry at.
Scream anger and tell the government that we need expedited Justice, and to hold the Landlord & Tenant Board to their service standards.
I scream it, however, the voice isn’t Loud Enough, the pressure to resolve the issues are not united and because of this, the powers at be are complacent with the situation they have created.
Law abiding people are being penalized for complying with the law and are being told to obey while being screwed by the system that demands them to obey. This is not Justice, this is not acceptable and this cannot be accepted as normal.
These delays are causing people to completely loose faith in the Justice system and I hate to have to tell Landlords that unfortunately, we’re at the mercy of the LTB.
I’ve written the Board several times to only be road blocked with generic answers and awful excuses as if this is how the system should operate.
This is not how the system should operate. The system is prejudicing good landlords/ tenants and causing significant hardship but it all falls on deaf ears.
Is anyone listening? Certainly the Board is not listening. I am hearing it from Landlords and Tenants demanding responses from the LTB and only receiving silence.
I have matters from the beginning of the year that still don’t have decisions! I have Landlords waiting to move into their homes without decisions rendered! I have mediated orders that are breached and cannot be enforced because I don’t have the piece of paper that states I have an Order.
I have had to repeat an entire hearing this year because after the hearing was completed the adjudicator resigned before a decision was rendered! I still don’t have an order to date!
Is this fair? ABSOLUTELY NOT! This is injustice, this is neglect, this is draconian.
Despite all efforts of many Small Landlord or Tenant groups nothing appears to be getting better. The delays continue to be prevalent throughout the system, and Justice continues to be denied.
I don’t have the answers, nor can I control the system, but I do voice my concerns, I voice them loud, I voice them clearly but I voice them to deaf ears.
I want to be heard, I want answers and we all deserve Justice!
Jordan Nieuwhof is a paralegal representing landlords in Ontario. This op ed is not representative of the official Solo Landlords Inc. position and is the sole opinion of the author
