August 1st, 2013 

The Long Expensive Journey for a Compassionate & Caring Landlord Finally Ends

It was finally over. It has been a crazy journey to get to this point.

The final tally for lost rent, providing them with all of the amenities they would have been entitled to had they actually been paying rent, damages and garbage removal, and fees related to the LTB and Sheriff are between 9 and 10 thousand dollars – which is more than our combined income for those 4 months!

And we’re still dealing with their nonsense, as he has reportedly been seen entering the building on more than one occasion.  

Being evicted is, apparently, not enough to charge him with trespassing; we must discover his new address and serve him with a trespass letter before the police will even consider charging him. 

And to add insult to injury, until January, in spite of the fact that they paid no rent, and her partner was working full time, she continued to receive her full shelter allowance through OW.

I did provide her worker, and then the fraud unit, with reams of documentation and she was eventually cut off – but all it took for her to be reinstated, apparently, was for him to provide a (clearly forged) rent receipt for a room he supposedly lived in in another city.

I would love to know when or how he ever managed to get there, since both of his vehicles were constantly parked in front of the unit except when he was at work.

We were required to support them for 4 months at our expense, to deal with constant abuse and harassment, to risk my employment and inconvenience hundreds of students (there are no substitute teachers at the college level) – and to support them through our taxes as well!

I work part-time; my husband has a seasonal business – clearly we cannot afford to be landlords in Ontario.

Walk into any hotel in Ontario and try to stay an extra day without paying – the police will not only remove you, but also lay charges.

That is theft – but steal for months from a landlord – that is not. That is perfectly acceptable, and in fact, the agencies which are supposed to help all pile on and demand extra money to – eventually – deal with removing them.

Is it any wonder that in my mind, LTB stands not for Landlord and Tenant Board, but rather for the Legalized Theft Board?

A worthless piece of paper – an order that cannot be enforced is – contrary to every officer of the board, the police, and the Sheriff’s Office’s opinion – not reasonable compensation.

Ah well – at least having lost more than 15% of our gross income for the year might reduce the amount of taxes we’ll have to pay to support this ridiculous system.

And at least we are no longer so naïve as to believe that part of landlording in Ontario should be providing safe, reasonably priced housing to people who need a break.

To discuss this and other issues facing Ontario landlords go to the free Ontario Landlord Forum.