
Archive for the ‘Credit checks’ Category
Let’s Improve The Rental Industry For Good Landlords & Good Tenants – Share Advice, Tips & More
Wednesday, March 1st, 2023
Thursday, April 8th, 2021
April 8, 2021
TO: Ontario Landlord Association Stakeholders
FROM: Karen Restoule, Associate Chair
RE: Expedited Enforcement of Eviction Orders
On April 8, 2021, the Government of Ontario issued Ontario Regulation 266/21 made under the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act.
This regulation states that the Court Enforcement Office (Sheriff) cannot enforce any Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) eviction order unless the order asks the Sheriff to expedite the enforcement. The Sheriff can resume enforcing all eviction orders after the Government of Ontario removes the regulation.
The LTB is continuing to hold hearings for all types of applications and issue orders, including orders for evictions. This will help ensure that tenants and landlords seeking resolution from the LTB are provided access to justice with minimal service delays.
The purpose of this memo is to provide information on when an eviction order issued by the LTB may include a request to the Sheriff to expedite enforcement.
Section 84 of the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 (“RTA”) says that the LTB must include such a request to the Sheriff in the order where the tenant is being evicted for certain types of very serious conduct, and the adjudicator has not delayed the enforcement date pursuant to section 83(1)(b) of the RTA. The grounds for eviction in section 84 are:
- Willfully damaging the rental unit
- Using the unit in a way which is inconsistent with residential use and caused, or is likely to cause, significant damage
- Committing an illegal act in the unit involving the production or trafficking of illegal drugs
- Seriously impairing someone’s safety
- Substantially interfering with the landlord’s reasonable enjoyment – in cases where the landlord and tenant live in the same building and the building has three or fewer residential units
If a landlord believes that an eviction order should include a request to the Sheriff to expedite enforcement, but the application is not based on any of the grounds contained in section 84 of the RTA, the landlord may raise this issue during the hearing. The adjudicator may consider whether the tenant is responsible for an urgent problem such as a serious and ongoing health or safety issue at the residential complex or a serious illegal act that occurred at the residential complex. The tenant will have the opportunity to make submissions on this issue if they are at the hearing.
If the hearing for the landlord’s eviction application has already been completed but the order has not been issued, the landlord may contact the LTB to ask the adjudicator who held the hearing to consider adding to the order a request to the Sheriff to expedite enforcement of eviction. Landlords can submit a request to expedite enforcement of the eviction by fax, mail or email. The tenant will have an opportunity to make submissions on this issue.
Eviction orders that have already been issued can only be changed if the order contains a serious error or a clerical mistake. If a landlord believes that an order contains a serious error, the landlord may file a request to review the order. If the landlord believes that the order contains a clerical mistake, the landlord may file a request to amend the order. More information on this process is available on the Application and Hearing Process page of our website.
We remain committed to updating you about operational planning and we are appreciative of your patience and cooperation as we continue to adjust our operations in response to the ongoing pandemic.
If you have any questions, please contact us at LTB@ontario.ca.
Sincerely,
[Original signed by] [Original signed by]
Karen Restoule Lynn Dicaire
Associate Chair Registrar
Landlord and Tenant Board Expanding Access to Technology for Proceedings
Monday, February 1st, 2021January 27, 2021
TO: Ontario Landlord Association Stakeholders
FROM: Karen Restoule, Associate Chair, Lynn Dicaire, Registrar, LTB
RE: Landlord and Tenant Board Expanding Access
The Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) is continuing its efforts to improve operations and enhance the quality of dispute resolution for the thousands of people across the province who access its services.
Last year, we heard from you that some Ontarians have difficulty participating in their hearing by telephone or videoconference because of a lack of access to the necessary technology. This feedback has been important to helping us identify opportunities to improve parties’ experience with the board. In doing so, we have carefully assessed and evaluated the LTB’s ability to provide access to technology, while also ensuring the safety of LTB staff and participants.
Today, we are pleased to announce that starting February 1, the LTB is expanding options to address requests for alternative hearing formats for parties in Toronto who do not have access to a telephone, computer and/or the internet.
LTB parties who need access to a computer and telephone terminal may be accommodated at the 15 Grosvenor Hearing Centre in Toronto. Parties who have received a Notice of Hearing and have contacted the LTB to make their request will be considered for access to the terminal. The LTB will evaluate each request on a case-by-case basis and respond with its decision to grant or deny the request. If the request is granted, the party using the terminal will participate in their hearing electronically.
A room will be set up to include a computer and telephone to support the party’s participation. Staff will only be available to help applicants who require technical assistance with the computer and/or telephone. A party can bring two additional individuals into the hearing centre for the proceeding. If the party needs to bring additional individuals, they should ask the LTB before the hearing; such requests will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.
Tribunals Ontario is committed to safeguarding the health and well-being of staff, and participants, and has implemented safety protocols and enhanced cleaning at the 15 Grosvenor Hearing Centre. Everyone entering the hearing centre will be required to complete an on-site COVID-19 screening assessment before entry and must adhere to all safety measures inside the hearing centre. Individuals who are deemed inadmissible through the screening assessment will not be permitted entry. Front-line counter services remain closed until further notice.
Tribunals Ontario will evaluate this new pilot initiative and determine if and how it may be improved upon and expanded to other tribunals and hearing centres across the province.
We will continue to monitor COVID-19 developments and will update our practices and procedures based on advice from the Ministry of Health, Chief Medical Officer of Health, and public health officials.
The LTB remains committed to updating you with regard to operational planning and is appreciative of your patience and cooperation as we continue to adjust our operations in response to the ongoing pandemic.
Sincerely,
[Original signed by] [Original signed by]
Karen Restoule
Associate Chair |
Lynn Dicaire
Registrar |