April 13th, 2012

The 2012 Ontario Budget

During his budget, Liberal Finance Minister Dwight Duncan focused on repairing the debt problem the province of Ontario faces. Minister Duncan spoke about full cost recovery from fees charged from programs.

Tenant Activists Support More Fees for Landlords

Leading influential tenant activists have commented on the budget speech and have stated that if we have an austerity budget “everybody has to do their bit…how about landlords?”

Does this Mean More Fees for Small Landlords?

We have also received word, via emails sent in, social media, and posts on the Ontario Landlords Association forums, fees for Landlords to file at the Landlord and Tenant Board may be going up.

Enough is enough

It wasn’t long ago LTB filing fees were $150. They were then raised to $170 with little protest from landlords.

Times have Changed.  We will no longer be silent.

Any increase in LTB filing fees will not go unnoticed and silent as they did before. Already many small private residential landlords are struggling to keep above water with the long and arduous LTB process. Raising filing fees is unacceptable since few landlords can ever collect the fee back, even after winning at the LTB and getting an eviction.

Does the Government Value Small Private Residential Landlords?

If they do, not raising fees is a good first step.  The current rules are  ”one size fits all legislation” which lumps small private residential landlords with large corporate landlords.

How Can the Government Promote Savings in the Landlord/Tenant Industry?

Let’s focus on making the eviction process more efficient! Rather than put more fees on Landlords, let’s have a meeting of all stake-holders and help the province save money with a more efficient and productive LTB.