Archive for the ‘Landlord and Tenant Questions and Answers’ Category

Landlord and Tenant Board Stakeholders

Sunday, December 10th, 2023

MEMORANDUM

TO:                 Landlord and Tenant Board Stakeholders

FROM:           Ian Speers, Associate Chair

                       Lindiwe Bridgewater, Acting Registrar

DATE:            December 1, 2023

RE:                 Landlord and Tenant Board Stakeholder Meeting

Please join us on Wednesday, December 13, 2023 from 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. for updates on our ongoing work to improve service delivery at the Landlord and Tenant Board.

Those who wish to join the meeting must register in advance at the following link: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_CrHIuJWvRm67jsW5-6MyWg

Once you have registered, you will receive a confirmation email with the Zoom link for the meeting, as well as call-in information if you wish to join by telephone.

We look forward to your attendance.

Sincerely,

Ian Speers                                                   Lindiwe Bridgewater

Associate Chair                                           Acting Registrar

LTB Update – Email Consolidation

Wednesday, May 3rd, 2023

TO:                 Landlord and Tenant Board Stakeholders

FROM:           Ian Speers, Associate Chair

                       Lindiwe Bridgewater, Acting Registrar

DATE:            May 1, 2023 

RE:                LTB Update – Email Consolidation

We are writing to inform you about our plan to consolidate all regional email addresses into one centralized email address.

This initiative will help us to modernize operations and improve our service delivery standards. It will enable the LTB to streamline processes and to respond to inquiries in a more efficient manner, including ensuring that urgent submissions and file-specific inquiries are properly prioritized. This will also help minimize confusion among parties about which email address to use when contacting the LTB.

Effective July 10, 2023, parties can use LTB@ontario.ca  to contact the LTB. Emails sent to the regional email addresses on or after July 10, 2023, will receive an email bounce-back advising them that their email has not been received by the LTB and directing them to resend their email to LTB@ontario.ca.

We continue to encourage users to use the Tribunals Ontario Portal to upload evidence and submissions for their LTB file or to submit requests instead of using email. Using the portal will ensure your casefile is updated in real time and allows the LTB to address your requests in a timely way.

If you have any questions, please contact LTB@ontario.ca.

Sincerely,

Ian Speers                                   Lindiwe Bridgewater

Associate Chair                          Acting Registrar

The Ontario Landlords Association is the Recognized Voice For Residential Landlords in Ontario

Sunday, March 28th, 2021

 

“The Ministry greatly values the role the Ontario Landlords Association and its members play in providing quality, affordable rental housing in Ontario and recognizes the OLA provides an important voice for small private residential landlords.”

Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing

 

It’s Important To Pay Your Rent To Your Small Landlord

Friday, September 11th, 2020

My name is Laura and I post under my name on the Ontario Landlords Forum. I’ve been active there for years to try to help other tenants and give some of my advice to help small landlords too.

These are crazy times for everyone.

And while tenants are suffering it’s also important to know your landlord might be suffering too. This pandemic is hurting everyone.

We Need To Stick Together

I used to own a house and we rented our basement out years ago and it really helped us cover our mortgage. When my husband died my children were grown so I decided to sell the house and rent.

Renting has a lot of advantages.

I don’t have to worry about any maintenance issues and my landlady has a service to cut the lawn and plow the snow.  My landlord cover my utilities so she can get just one payment each month to keep things uncomplicated.

My landlady is a teacher and her husband has his own contracting company and they are terrific.

“Are You Going To Pay The Rent?”

When all this chaos started in March and the government said “tenants don’t have to pay rent” my landlady called me and asked me if I was going to pay the rent.

I told her “of course I will”. She was thankful and said if I needed a break just call her.

My Landlady Is Professional and Kind, And I Make Paying Rent A Priority

I’m in a pretty good situation where I don’t need to worry about buying food and my children are adults now.  I know others might not be as safe as I am.

I’m going to pay the rent not only because it’s the right thing to do, but because I want to keep my excellent relationship with my landlady and know that if I don’t pay rent it could hurt her financially (and even lead to her selling this place).

Pay You Rent And If You Can’t Call Your Landlord

My landlady isn’t some big global corporation. She and her family invested and thanks to them I have a great place to stay at a great price.

Rent Strike Hits Small Landlords, Not The Corporate Landlords

-Not paying rent will just get rid of the small nice landlords who care about you.

-Not paying rent will not impact the big heartless corporations.

-The whole “rent strike” people are likely corporate landlords who want to get rid of small landlords who are their competition.  At least that’s what I think.

Stay Home and Stay Safe!

I’m so happy to have a great rental with a great landlady. I feel safe and don’t ever want to move.

With Love And Wishing Everyone Stays Safe,

Laura

 

I Worked Out A Fair “Win-Win” Payment Plan With My Landlord

Thursday, August 13th, 2020

 

My Landlord Cooperated With Me 

These are difficult times for everyone. So many people are out of work and many have even been fired from their jobs!

The pandemic has changed the world and has hurt so many people.

And with all the schools closed many parents have to try to educate and entertain our children. This is especially tough when we can’t go to parks or playgrounds.

Landlords And Tenants And Paying Rent

As a long term tenant I have paid my rent according to the lease with my landlord all the time.

Now things have changed, the economy has changed, the whole world has changed due to the Corona Virus.

Economic Challenges

We tenants have lost hours, lost jobs, and even lost hope. This is a unique situation we have never seen before.

So How Should Tenants Deal With Their Landlord?

It’s all about being upfront and honest and working together.

Inform Your Landlord Of Your Predicament

Be open and honest with your small landlords because they will care and understand the challenges you face.

Most small landlords are nice people…they don’t want you to move (at least in my case). And they are willing to listen. And they are often flexible to reach a win-win situation.

Also, they don’t want to try to find a new tenant to replace you if possible. They want you to stay and hope you are willing to work with them.

See Things From The Landlords Point of View And Ask Them To See Things From Your Point Of View

Most small landlords are not like the rich corporate landlords living in their castles. They want you to stay and be their client.

They also know that finding another good paying tenant in the current environment will be very difficult and would prefer you to stay.

So it’s entirely possible to ‘work things out’.

Work Out A Payment Plan

I worked out a fair payment plan with my landlords.

Since I only get $2000/month from CERB and my rent is $900/month we agreed I would pay $500/month and I would catch up when the pandemic is over and I can get back to work.

This allows me to have confidence I will keep my home and also gives me $1500 for other things I need in life (and I still don’t need to dip into my savings!)

Working Together…Works!

View your small landlord as a partner in this whole crazy mess of a world.

Your small landlord likely rented themselves or have friends or kids renting so they are on your side. They might even be helping their kids or relative or friend who is renting deal with this situation.

Working Class Tenants Working With Working Class Landlords is Key

Many working class landlords aren’t rich and have bills to pay. They are usually pretty kind and flexible and if you be polite and tell them you want to work things out they will do it.

Make sure you rent from a small working class landlord because you can talk to each other and prepare win-win plans.

Stay Safe and Let’s All Work Together