In the dark and twisted road of tenant evictions, there are many examples of cases that don’t attract public scrutiny. This attention is sometimes placed on a larger, more devastating, failures. Often, horrible cases are compared to yet more horrific cases and then hoisted in front of a seeming proof of a broken system. But all landlords count, even the less flashy. These landlords may not have been threatened with violence and may not be screaming the loudest, but they’re becoming an all-too-common calamity of the Ontario Landlord and Tenant Board’s systemic failures. Manpreet’s story is one such case. It’s a shining example of all that’s wrong with today’s LTB.
In Manpreet’s scenario, it’s clear both he and his tenant knew the LTB was delayed 8 months or more. Perhaps because of this knowledge, several different dynamics were able to take hold. For Manpreet, he’d have to understand that an 8-12-month delay with no rent might cost him so much that he’d lose his home. For the tenant, not paying rent was a clear signal that he knew how to prosper from this situation. For some, the mere possibility they could take advantage of a system, and they will. So, the table was set. No rent being paid and no idea when this would end.
Manpreet filed the appropriate paperwork with the LTB. This process was at once pedantic, brutal and uncaring. So truly bureaucratic that Manpreet turned to a paralegal for help just so he’d make sure the unforgiving LTB would see the right details. When Manpreet filed his L1, he filed it correctly, but the LTB saw it differently. Manpreet describes the outcome:
“I know I filled it correctly, but when I logged in the LTB portal, there were 2 L1 applications and they were like blank showing no information, it said 0 rent and tenant doesn’t live there. Even LTB confirmed [the] duplicate.”
Given little more information other than the LTB would not tolerate variance from a perfect application, Manpreet knew most, if not all hope were lost for any chance for correcting his file’s course. The nebulous LTB mountain is a treacherous climb for landlords on a regular day; when they fail, however, it’s time to give up.
After nine months of unpaid rent and LTB delays and failures, Manpreet made the courageous move to offer his tenant forgiveness in the form of those nine months’ rent. The tenant took the offer and vacated the unit. With the tenant gone, Manpreet was left with $22,050 in lost rent, several damages to the house and, just about the worst reality, that he’d have no options to collect on his losses for damages. Here’s a breakdown of what he lost from this one tenant:
1. Nine months rent: $22,050.00
2. LTB Filing fee – $186.00
3. Paralegal fees – $800.00
4. Water bills paid – $600.00
5. Damages – painting – $3000.00
6. Damages – carpet – $2000.00
7. Garbage disposal – $200.00
Total Loss: $28,836.00
That’s a lot of money. For most of us, losing that kind of money would cost us things we own, our home or completely wipe out any savings we might have for our children’s future. This kind of loss takes members of our dwindling middle-class and throws them into poverty. While the sentiment is often to pooh-pooh the landlord, isn’t the idea in Canada that we want more prosperity? Should the system itself decide who survives and who doesn’t?
The intangibles of pain and suffering are harder to measure. Money is real, we can all relate. For Manpreet, the toll on his family’s mental health, time and energy is the largest amount of pain. It can’t be understated how close to the edge of this systemic breakdown is pushing families of all sorts. Manpreet follows the rules, pays taxes and is offered no protection from a life-altering catastrophe. All of it could be prevented.
What does a working system look like? This is just about the easiest question to answer. When things go bad, a working system attends to it in a reasonable timeframe. Those that are found to have broken laws or rules, pay. Those that have proven they should be evicted, must leave. The standard for a reasonable time is as subjective as it can be, but getting a hearing within a month seems acceptable. The LTB’s own standards say so.
This “reasonable” time to a hearing is not some esoteric idea either. Section 11(b) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms codifies an essential right to be tried in a reasonable time. While matters such as civil and tribunal matters may not criminal offences; on a systemic level shouldn’t all matters carry the understanding that, if not handled in a reasonable timeframe, the system is broken?
Do you remember the uproar about passport office delays? After the pandemic with travel opening up, Canadians renewing passport faced large delays in processing. Many of those issues have been solved by now, but the news coverage was extensive. Some had tried to game the system while others vented frustrations and there was a clear sense that delays might be a violation of rights. If this kind of system breakdown captured the imagination of the country, why are landlords like Manpreet and so many others left to languish in bureaucratic purgatory?
