RESIDENTIAL TENANCIES ACT HAS CHANGED – GOOD NEWS FOR LANDLORDS & TENANTS
The Ontario Landlords Association has been fighting for landlord rights for over a decade. Step by step we are winning! Help us win more!
Bill 184 Is Called “The Protecting Tenants and Strengthening Community Housing Act 2020”
Despite the name, this bill makes some positive changes for landlords.
How?
For small landlords the the three most important changes are:
1. No More “Trial By Ambush”
Before this change in the law tenants were able to raise repair issues at eviction hearings without notifying the landlord of any problems first.
They didn’t need proof, they just had to bring up issues to get the Hearing cancelled and a new Hearing set for a later…usually many months later that many tenants still didn’t pay rent!
Many of our members faced unscrupulous and dirty tenant reps. who used what was intended to protect tenants instead to be a trick and legal weapon.
We have small landlords who even said dirty “reps” warned landlords “no house is perfect!” (meaning “I can ambush you to delay evictions!”) as a negotiating tactic to get landlords to pay money for tenants to move or they would use this to delay the eviction by months!
Now that Bill 184 passed, tenants need to give notice in writing of these complaints before a hearing occurs. This will allow good landlords to make the repairs needed.
We have had thousands of reports of the years of tenant representatives bringing up imaginary “problems” with the rental property as a tactic to delay an eviction.
This has now ended and this dirty legal trick has been eliminated.
2. Allows Landlords To Pursue Tenants For Rent and Utilities Arrears Through the LTB, Instead of Small Claims Court
This is helpful because small claims court can take a lot of time to get a court date (up to a year or more) and you have to find your tenants to serve them.
Again, this will mostly help the large REIT corporate landlords who have their own legal teams. But it can help small landlords, especially when it comes to unpaid utilities.
3. Tenants Who Don’t Fulfill Their Payment Plans Get Evicted With No Hearing (which can take months)
When landlords apply to evict tenants for late rent, the tribunal can help mediate “payment plans” between the landlord and the tenant.
That sounds great. Not really. The problem is the mediation happens when the landlord finally gets a Hearing date at the landlord and tenant board.
Even before the corona virus, landlords had to wait months to get a Hearing date because of so many cases and too few LTB “adjudicators” (judges).
Under the new law, landlords and tenants can make their own “payment plans” together without having to wait months for an LTB Hearing.
If tenants are unable to fulfill the repayment agreements, landlords would not necessarily have to go back to the tribunal for an eviction hearing with the tenant.
And tenants who tried to work with their landlord will get special consideration if it does go to a hearing versus tenants who simply refused to pay rent.
Read more at: https://ontariolandlords.org/blog/the-r ... d-tenants/