The SOLO – Will Davidson LLP upcoming press conference on landlords issues in Ontario

The Press Conference will include a representative from SOLO, several residential landlords who have suffered significant financial hardship due to the failures of the Government, and Gary Will, Will Davidson LLP.

NO COMPENSATION WAS PROVIDED FOR SMALL LANDLORDS BEING FORCED TO HOUSE PEOPLE FOR FREE !!!

The message from Premier Ford very early in the pandemic, was that if rent could not be paid then the tenant would not need to pay the rent owed and the Provincial Government would not make these same tenants face eviction.

The Province of Ontario has failed to protect small residential landlords and as a result they are suffering due to financial losses, and the system has failed them.

Solo has talked to a number of residential landlords in Ontario, and they are frustrated with the system and feel like the Ontario Government has failed them. The landlords would rather not rent their units instead of having tenants live for free. A number of landlords have confirmed that they will not be renting their units once they are able to evict their tenant for non-payment. This fact is very concerning considering that it could lead to a devasting housing crisis in Ontario.

The decreasing number of rental units together with the increased demand for rental units due to increased immigration over the next few is going to create a crisis.

Data released by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) in early May 2021 shows the country welcomed over 70,000 new immigrants in the first quarter of this year. This Q1 2021 figure is well above the 30,000-40,000 newcomers Canada had been landing per quarter since the start of the pandemic.

It has also been reported that Canada aims to welcome 401,000 new immigrants in 2021 which would tie the record set in 1913. It looks to welcome even more newcomers over the next two years.

The 2020 data confirms there was 284,387 immigrants coming to Canada of which approximately 50% came to Ontario. With the number of rental units declining and 200,000 immigrants coming to Ontario per year for the next few years where does the Ontario Government expect these people to live?

In order to help alleviate or decrease the looming housing crisis Ontario should help the frustrated small residential landlords by compensating them for rental losses due to the pandemic retroactive to March, 2020 and to make changes to the Residential Tenancies Act in order to fix the system (LTB) that is broken and bias.

SOLO Landlords have suffered immense financial losses due to the failures of the Ontario Government.

Some quotes from landlords:

1. 1. 1.  “I felt like I was being held hostage. Held hostage in my own home. I live there too but I had no rights. I was intimidated, bullied and abused with no means of help.”
      2. “My non-paying tenant has more rights than me as the owner who’s paying for her to stay at my house for free.”
      3. “This isn’t protecting good tenants; it’s enabling bad ones and causing significant harm to landlords”
      4. “The government’s responsibilities to unemployment and affordable housing have been unjustly downloaded to private landlords.”
      5. “My legal rights were taken away without a remedy. I was forced into a situation in which our political leaders did not consider the harmful outcome. I matter. I am a resident of this province and I MATTER!”
      6. “Instead of penalizing small landlords who are trying to earn a living, maybe we should incentivize them. Tax credits would be a great start. “
      7. “You can’t hold landlords to a high standard and not hold tenants to the same high standard.”
      8. “Rights come with responsibilities. Why are the people with the least responsibilities afforded the most rights?”
      9. “Day by day I could feel my grip on sanity slowly slipping away. Sitting by and watching four working adults live in my gorgeous custom home— for free— while my own bills weren’t being paid and the bank closed in on foreclosure.”
      10. “Ontario’s new nickname: Heaven for the professional tenants and hell for the small landlords.”

Some landlords are so frustrated that they may never rent again. One landlord has talked about anxiety and depression, and a deep mistrust in the Government. They feel like they are being ignored and being left to fend for themselves in a system (LTB) that is broken and bias.

The atrocious situation landlords find themselves has a negative impact on their health and well-being.

A small sampling of landlords will tell their stories of how the current legal system penalizes unjustly small landlords who are in danger of losing their properties and are requesting changes from the Ontario Government.