The delays at the Landlords and Tenants Board (LTB), the Tribunal in charge of all dispute between tenants and landlords is exacerbating the housing crisis in Ontario as many small mom and pop landlords are now reluctant to rent exiting the business altogether or leaving their property empty dreading the “professional tenant” nightmare.
After waiting patiently for month to get a hearing for a non paying tenant, a Solo landlord wrote to Doug Ford, the Premier of Ontario to explain the issue affecting landlords and tenants with the LTB.
The office of the Premier responded with what the landlord called “canned response”
Thanks for writing to me about the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB). I appreciate hearing your views and concerns.
As you may know, the LTB, which is part of Tribunals Ontario, is an adjudicative tribunal that resolves disputes under the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, independently of government. To preserve this independence, government officials are not permitted to interfere in, or comment on, tribunal processes or decisions. However, I can provide the following general information.
The LTB is working to continuously improve operations and enhance the quality of dispute resolution for people across the province. The LTB understands the impact that service delays have had on personal lives and businesses and the need to address the volume of applications that require timely, fair and efficient dispute resolution. It is worth noting that COVID-19 has impacted tribunals, including sudden and unavoidable service delays while Tribunals Ontario developed and implemented new strategies to deliver services.
While the LTB continues to accept applications, hold hearings and issue orders, front counters remain closed to the public due to COVID-19. As indicated on Tribunals Ontario’s website, tribunal services continue to be provided to the public while keeping Ontarians safe in response to COVID-19. To comply with physical distancing direction from public health authorities, Tribunals Ontario is pursuing a digital first approach including conducting video, telephone and written hearings where feasible, and encouraging Ontarians to use e-mail if possible, to communicate with the tribunals. For reference, Tribunals Ontario’s announcement can be found here.
I encourage you to contact the LTB directly if you have further questions regarding your matter. If you have a file number, you may wish to use the Check File Status tool on the LTB’s website which allows applicants to see the date of their hearing and if an order has been issued. It can be found here. You may also refer to the “Contact Us” page on the LTB’s website for options to contact the tribunal.
Thanks again for contacting me.
Doug Ford
Premier of Ontario
The response was not what the Solo landlord expected. Here is the reply
Hello,
With all due respect, your response is not helpful. I am aware of all this. The issue is that the LTB is not responding to any of our inquiries, not providing any updates and not respecting the Service standards. And although I have filed a complaint with Tribunal Ontario over 2 months ago, I have never heard from them. This Government must do better. It is clear that neither the LTB or Tribunal Ontario is accountable for this extremely poor service and Ontarians are paying the price for it.
I have called multiple times ( call disconnected and busy lines) and sent emails. I have followed their complaint process and have not heard back. I have then contacted the ombudsman of Ontario and they have not been able to help, informing me that there’s an investigation against the LTB and this is a systemic issue. Although I was told by the adjudicator that it will be issued in a week, I waited 30 days and have not received anything. I have no updates on my file, no way to know how much longer this is going to take. The ombudsman is directing me to the LTB when I have told them in my complaint that I have tried numerous times to contact the LTB and am simply not hearing from them. I am aware that there is a systemic issue and the Ombudsman is investigating the LTB, however, this is not helping me! In the meantime, as a landlord, I am suffering and it is costing me tens of thousands of dollars! How incompetent are both organizations?
Unfortunately, the only thing that has happened that came of this unbelievably terrible stressful situation is my deteriorating health, and I have lost over $20,000 and still counting. What does a hard-working Ontario Taxpayer have to do to get his property back? Why am I not getting any response from the LTB or the Ombudsman? Why isn’t the Ombudsman doing its job and advocating, investigating this file? How much longer do we have to wait? Are they going to compensate me for my loss? How can both agencies not be held accountable and get away with this?? Do I as an Ontario Taxpaying Landlord have no rights in Ontario anymore? Am I better off just taking my own property back or does the LTB expect that I should lose another $20,000 on top of what I’ve already lost to my tenant? I am amazed that this is actually happening here in Ontario. Once it was the best place for hard-working honest tax-paying citizens who try to obey the rules.
It is a disgrace for your office and our government to allow these situations to happen. Small landlords from Ontario have been let down by this government, the Ontario Ombudsman, and LTB. None of you have any accountability and it is quite frankly shameful to see how the system is operating.
I definitely expected more from your office than providing me with some general information about the LTB and Tribunal Ontario and how to contact them.
Respectfully
