Canada, one of the most HIGHLY rated countries in the world, a member of the G7 countries and an inspiration for other countries and individuals. In fact, Canada allows immigration of over 250,000 people every year in multiple streams which creates diversity and a unique skill set mix.
There are many reasons why Canada is so highly rated such as quality of life, natural resources, ease of making business and others. One prime example is the disciplined and law abiding citizens combined with a well established law and order systems that create equality and support democracy, which is what I would like to raise today.
There is no argument that any crime will be addressed to the full extent of the law by the authorities irrespective of location, circumstances and people involved. It is the law. However there are a few exceptions that our well established law system neglected over the years and in the name of equality created a disparity and inequality.
Let’s take as an example a case where a person is caught stealing, we can agree that this person will be arrested as soon as possible and potentially charged. Now let’s progress to someone breaking and entering into your home with no permission, well, we know what will be the end result of that once caught. Last example, let’s say you are a home owner and you failed to pay your lender for a certain amount of time, you can guess that the lender will move forward to foreclose on your home and kick you out, it is in the law , no less.
So why am I bringing these examples? Well, the reason is due to the ongoing dispute between Landlords and Tenants across the country that our systems failed to properly address.
Here is an example which we can compare to the ones I gave above:
Person A (Tenant) signs a lease agreement with Person B (Landlord) for an exchange of money for space, that’s simple. This lease agreement is a contractual and enforced document written and published by no other than our own law makers (A Standard Form).
Without getting into the details, the tenant agrees and signs not just to pay the stipulated and agreed upon amount but also to take care of the Landlord’s property.
So far so good until…..
Tenant stops paying rent and that can be for many reasons but the bottom line is there is no payment made as per the signed agreement. The Landlord can find himself in a situation of hardship, not being able to pay his own lender, which by the example I gave earlier, running the risk of the lender foreclosing on his property.
Landlord looks for remedies under the law and he has one that falls under the Tribunal of the Landlord and Tenant Board. The remedy offered is to serve Tenant with a document and request a hearing in front of an adjudicator that will weigh in on the facts and circumstances and conclude the appropriate course of action. The preferred course of action is to force the Tenant to pay, and to pay on time. If the Tenant does not pay, then the preferred course is to evict the tenant after all, they broke a contract.
There are several ways where Tenant can avoid an eviction by stating they will pay, they have a reason, they have nowhere to go and many others I have heard over my days of sitting in hearings. The hearing does not guarantee a positive outcome to the Landlord.
Let’s discuss time frames, since it is important to the Landlord, which may have his lender chasing him.
Non-payment by Tenant –> Landlord serves with a notice (a few weeks) –>Application for a hearing–> hearing scheduled (2-3 months before COVID-19) –>waiting for an order (law states 30 days however can take months). Post Covid, the times for hearings have been upwards of 6 – 9 months!!So Landlord is running a financial risk and unable to restore cash flow while Tenant is running his debt higher while continuing to live free in the property.
The day is here and the Landlord is holding the eviction order, however, looking at the order (Standard Order) it stipulates that if Tenant pays the full amount he can stay in the property! If Tenant decided to do so, this whole cycle can start again.
Let us assume that Tenant has no intention of paying but would like to keep staying in the property living for free. No problem, Tenant files a Request for a Review of the order and writes on the document, irrespective if true or not, that the Landlord failed to fix the stove as an example or he is planning to pay or any other reason, Tenant can obtain a Stay of the Order, meaning, the eviction order is suspended until there is a new hearing to discuss why the Landlord didn’t fix the stove…. sounds like wild west? Remember this is Canada and we are looking up to it.
If Tenant is successful, this whole cycle starts again creating more hardship on the Landlord.
Let’s say that Tenant failed in the upcoming hearing to prove his point and the eviction order is in effect again, well, you think it is over but there is something called a Divisional Court of Appeals and all Tenant needs to do is file an appeal on the eviction order obtained which will for the most part warrant a Stay of the Order automatically and this case will get in a queue of months until heard.
To conclude, Tenant can live for free in a property not his with no consequences for years while creating hardship to Landlord.
Some might ask themselves why Landlords don’t just not sell the property and be done with it? Oh, so here is the problem, Tenant doesn’t have to move even if the property is sold to a point that the new buyer may open the door on the day of the move and find a full house of Tenants. You guessed right, go through the same process to evict them while living at a hotel. wild west? No way, it’s Canada!
What about the cost of all the lawyers, paralegals and court fees? good question and the simple answer that every document to file by tenant will be around 50 dollars, which can be waived if the tenant meets certain criteria. The Landlords will pay close to 200 dollars. equality , remember?
No cost consequences to the Tenants, they pay the 50 dollars and ask for up to 35,000 dollars using many applications available to them. they lose, they lost 50 dollars but if they won, well there might be a reason for that. Unlike other courts, no cost consequences to the losing party. In a way, it’s cheaper than a crap shot in Vegas.
So what do other countries do? Let’s take the United Kingdom where the law system there is almost the exact same as in Canada, there if Tenant doesn’t pay for 2 months he will get evicted promptly. Our neighbors from the south, 30 days and you are out…
In essence, Canada follows the same law with regards to Lenders and homeowners, but not with Landlords and Tenants.
The dispute between Landlords and Tenants is very interesting to me since the Tenants are fighting those who provide them with a place to live since they cannot afford their own or the system failed to provide them one in the name of equality and socialism. Reminds me of the cartoon where a person is sitting on a branch while trying to cut it from the tree…
Imagine what will happen to all those that are blocking evictions, not paying on purpose and creating unfair issues to Landlords, if the same Landlords combine will sell their properties? My guess is that the same lawmakers that are not looking after those who provide housing to those who can’t afford it, will come to the Landlords and offer them programs to buy properties to rent. But this is just an educated guess.
So here we are, one of the best countries in the world, pride ourselves with a well established law and order system yet there is a full broken, unequal and abused system that allows and further increases the inequality, disparity and animosity between all of us.”
The above is a personal column and not intended to be used for any other purpose
Eran Oz
SOLO member
