No discussion of how hard it’s been to handle my bad tenant without talking about Ontario’s Landlord Tenant Board (LTB). The LTB is a body set up to adjudicate issues between landlords and tenants. While this often serves to protect the tenants (for good reason), it has been broken for some time since the COVID pandemic has eased up. Given the landlord has no other legal option but to the LTB for eviction, this 6-month or more backlog makes it possible for the worst tenants to exploit the system and live rent-free in homes. The LTB is not equipped to face things that really go wrong. According to Tribunal Watch, the LTB is Ontario’s largest tribunal and they see over “over 80,000 applications annually.”
And, a recent Ontario election has highlighted one of the biggest social issues: Housing. One facet of the ‘housing crisis’ we all face is the continued challenges tenants face when being slapped with eviction notices, intimidation tactics, and general bad faith by landlords. I do feel for tenants – my formative years were all low-income and I’ve encountered many bad landlords. When things get tough with the landlord, it can be difficult to know your rights while maintaining dignity. That is not what this story is about, however. This is a story about the other side. This is the story of what things look like when a professional deadbeat tenant digs in against me and takes advantage of a broken system.
And that system is broken. The body that handles official evictions, The LTB on March 16, 2020, suspended eviction hearings due to the COVID-19 epidemic. They resumed hearings on August 1, 2020, but while suspended, the LTB continued to accept applications, creating a massive backlog. While this clearly protected the tenant, it placed many homeowners, especially the single small homeowner in danger of losing their homes (while the tenant refuses to pay rent). Given that the tenant could refuse to pay rent and then live on the property until a hearing commences, some tenants have abused this to the tune of a year or more in a home, rent-free. The police doing nothing.
To say that I’m small is an understatement. Growing up, my family jumped from low-income housing to low-income housing. We’d live in places like Regent Park and further east at Birchmount and Finch. We moved often and all over Canada. Homeownership to me was not only an impossibility, it wasn’t even something I dreamed of. Staying in school, trying to keep on a good path and be good with money – I hoped – would lift us out of poverty. Cut to many years later and I’d started my own business, clawed my way into a half-decent credit rating and then, a mortgage. It’s almost been 15 years now of holding on to this investment for the future of my family. This was a lifelong dream for me and it’s all at risk of going away because of a tenant.
So, when I became engaged and moved in with my partner, keeping the house meant renting it out. I wanted to be the good landlord. The landlord that did things better than all the bad landlords I’d encountered. After a few ok tenants, I was learning the challenges and, in June of 2021, my tenant replied to an advertisement about my rental. He seemed like a good guy with a child. He seemed nice and I had no reason to think otherwise. I asked him for all the standard detail (credit rating, income history, etc). Things progressed, I accepted him and we signed a lease. Little did I know at the time that he was fraudulently representing himself. You’ll learn more about that later.
My extra effort extended far beyond accommodating the tenant’s timeline. I left him with several kitchen utensils. I left him with a working BBQ in the backyard. He’d get an installed TV mount ready for use. I even left him with a few months of free Internet access (with WiFi covering the whole home) just so he could get into the house and transition. While we had an agreement that I controlled the garage, the tenant was free to use the exercise equipment I left him in the basement or any other part of the property. I even left a full, working camera system on the house for his protection. And the tenant clearly liked this and commented in an email at the time saying I was “the best landlord he’d had in 20 years hands down.”
To say things started off well is an understatement. I know now that it was likely because I was giving the tenant things and not asking for anything. Now, when I ask for things it’s a torrent of abusive language, threats and demands. The sad reality for a small homeowner whos’ tried to be a good landlord is that the LTB won’t do anything to help. I’m going to chronicle this process and share much more about my experiences on this blog. I hope you’ll join me.
Disclaimer: Kevin Costain is an Ontario Solo landlord. The views and opinions expressed in this article are his and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Solo Landlords Inc.
