Click HERE to read Steph Crozier’s article in the Kingston Whig Standard regarding a recent announcement from the Landlord & Tenant Board.
Tag: ltb
Tenant Wins at Board Hearing
Check out Steph Crozier’s recent article in the Kingston Whig Standard where she interviews John Done about a recent case before the Landlord & Tenant Board.
https://www.thewhig.com/news/local-news/tenant-wins-at-board-hearing
This article gives general legal information. For legal advice for a specific situation please CONTACT KCLC.
ACTO Asserts that the LTB’s Digital First Policy has Discriminated Against Ontarians
Re-posted from Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario (ACTO)
The Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario will be representing a number of tenants from across Ontario in their human rights applications before the HRTO against the Landlord and Tenant Board.
We are asserting that the LTB’s Digital First policy has, in many cases, violated tenants rights under Ontario’s Human Rights Code.
ACTO intends to achieve a significant legal victory for those who were left behind when the LTB decided to go Digital First. These applications represent the first attempt to call the LTB to account for these violations on a systemic level.
Read the full press release here:
https://www.acto.ca/…/press-release-human-rights…/
This post gives general legal information. For legal advice for a specific situation please CONTACT KCLC.
ON THE RADAR: Recent Changes to Ontario’s Rules for “No-Fault” Evictions
Re-posted from ON THE RADAR, a publication of Community Legal Education Ontario (CLEO)
On September 1, 2021, the government made major changes to the Residential Tenancies Act. CLEO talked about some of these changes in September’s On the Radar. This month, CLEO looks at two new rules that relate to what are called “no-fault” evictions, for example, when a landlord wants to move in.
Learn more at:
This post gives general legal information. For legal advice for a specific situation please CONTACT KCLC.
ON THE RADAR: Changes to Special COVID-19 Rules about Rent Increases end December 31
Re-posted from ON THE RADAR, a publication of Community Legal Education Ontario (CLEO)
Many tenants will see their rent go up in 2022 for the first time since 2020. This is because, in most cases, the government of Ontario didn’t allow any rent increases in 2021. For tenants not covered by the rent increase rules of the Residential Tenancies Act (RTA), the increase could be a lot.
This issue of On The Radar looks at the rules in the RTA most landlords must follow if they want to increase rents in 2022.
Learn more at: https://mailchi.mp/cleo.on.ca/on-the-radar-special-covid-19-rules-about-rent-increases-end-december-31?e=63ebc9e633
This post gives general legal information. For legal advice for a specific situation please CONTACT KCLC.
Greater powers for the Landlord and Tenant Board could have major effect on tenants
Re-posted from ON THE RADAR, a publication of Community Legal Education Ontario (CLEO)
Tenants in Ontario are facing new rules that may seriously affect their rights and responsibilities. These changes to the Residential Tenancies Act became law on September 1.
This month’s On the Radar looks at 2 of the more significant new rules.
Landlords can now apply to the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB):
- after a tenant has moved out, and
- when a tenant does not pay for utilities that they’re responsible for.
For more information visit: https://mailchi.mp/cleo.on.ca/on-the-radar-greater-powers-for-the-landlord-and-tenant-board-could-have-major-effect-on-tenants?e=2979dc01ad
This post gives general legal information. For legal advice for a specific situation please CONTACT KCLC.
No More Rent Control for New Apartments
Re-posted from ON THE RADAR, a publication of Community Legal Education Ontario (CLEO)
The provincial government is allowing landlords of new apartments to raise the rent by any amount.
This month’s On the Radar explains which units are affected by this change, and what it means for tenants.
Rent control basics
Most rented homes in Ontario are covered by 3 rules about rent increases:
- The landlord must wait at least one year between increases.
- The landlord must give the tenant at least 90 days’ written notice of any increase.
- The increase can’t be more than the provincial rent guideline for that year, unless the landlord gets approval from the Landlord and Tenant Board. For 2019, the guideline is 1.8%.
It’s the last rule that’s now been taken off most new rental units. This means that those units are exempt from the rent guideline.
Which rental units are no longer covered by the rent guideline?
The new exemption applies to many units created or first rented after November 15, 2018. That was the date the government announced this change.
The new law says that the following types of units are exempt from the rent guideline:
- units in newly occupied buildings
- units in newly occupied additions
- new units in houses
Newly occupied buildings
If a building had no one living in it on or before November 15, 2018, all the units in it are exempt.
For example, this would apply if a building had only commercial tenants, such as a store or factory, before November 15, 2018. As long as the first people to live there moved in after November 15, all of the units people live in are exempt from the rent guideline.
Newly occupied additions
These are units in a new section that’s added on to a building, if this addition had no one living in it on or before November 15, 2018.
For example, this could be a rental building built in 1974, with a new addition built in 2018. As long as the first people to live in the addition moved in after November 15, 2018, all of the units in the addition are exempt from the rent guideline.
But units in the original part of building continue to be covered by guideline.
New units in houses
These are self-contained apartments created in a house after November 15, 2018.
It must be a house that didn’t contain more than 2 living units on or before that date. The house can be detached or semi-detached, or a townhouse or row house.
It must also meet certain other conditions.
For example, this could be a house that was built as a single-family home and was later divided into a main floor unit and an upstairs unit. The owner lives upstairs and rents out the main floor.
In March 2019, the owner gets the basement finished and creates an apartment there, with a kitchen, bathroom, and separate entrance. The new basement apartment is exempt from the rent guideline. But the main floor unit is still covered.
What does it mean if a unit is exempt?
Tenants who rent these units no longer have any legal protection against large rent increases.
At the end of their first year, and every year after that, their landlord can raise the rent as much as they want, as long as they give 90 days’ written notice.
It’s important that tenants renting new units know about this. A year after they move in, the rent could go up so much that they can’t afford it. Then their only option may be to move out.
Less protection from unfair evictions
Being exempt from the rent guideline creates another danger for tenants.
A landlord might want to get rid of a tenant for reasons the law does not allow, for example because the tenant is asking for repairs to the apartment.
The landlord can’t use this reason to give the tenant an eviction notice or to ask the Landlord and Tenant Board for an eviction order.
But now the landlord can try to force the tenant to move by raising the rent to a level that they know the tenant can’t afford.
There was one situation in the past when the Board decided that a landlord could not do something like this. But the Board might make a different decision in future cases.
A tenant in this situation might want to get legal advice.
Note: This post gives general legal information. It is not a substitute for getting legal advice about a particular situation. For legal advice, please contact Kingston Community Legal Clinic at 613-541-0777.
N12: What You Need to Know
Sarah Forsyth | Staff Lawyer
Has your landlord asked you to move out of your rental unit because the landlord’s family member wants to move in?
Here is what you need to know.
Most tenancies are protected by the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006. Just because your landlord says you have to leave, does not mean you need to move out. The Landlord and Tenant Board is the body that decides whether or not tenancies end.
The N12 Notice
To ask you to leave so a family member can move in, your landlord must serve you with a “Notice to End your Tenancy Because the Landlord, a Purchaser or a Family Member Requires the Rental Unit”. This is also called an N12 Notice.
The landlord can only use this notice for specific, close family members. It cannot be used for extended family. The N12 can be used for:
- The landlord
- The landlord’s spouse
- The landlord’s child
- The landlord’s parent
The Rules
The N12 Notice must follow certain rules. If the rules are not followed, the N12 Notice could be void and the landlord may have to start over.
If you receive an N12 Notice, check for the following:
- There must be 60 days between the date the landlord gives you the N12 Notice and the termination date
- The termination date must be on the last day of a rental period. This means that if you pay rent on the first of each month, the termination date must be the last day of the month
- Your rental unit must be listed properly
- All tenants must be named
What Happens Next?
You do not have to move out by the termination date. If the landlord wants you to leave, it may file an application to the Landlord and Tenant Board and ask for a hearing. At the hearing, the Board will decide whether or not to issue an order evicting the tenant.
At the Hearing
A landlord has up until the day of the hearing to produce an affidavit from the family member moving in. The affidavit should explain:
- The reason the family member wants to move in
- That the family member wants to live in the unit for at least one year
A landlord must also provide the tenant with a cheque for one month’s rent by the termination date on the N12 Notice at the latest.
What if I Do Not Believe the N12 is Truthful?
A landlord must give an N12 Notice in “good faith.” This means that the family member identified on the N12 must genuinely intend to move into the rental unit for at least one year.
If you do not believe this to be true, you may allege that the N12 Notice was given in “bad faith” at the hearing. You must be prepared to bring evidence with you that proves your suspicions.
Possible examples of evidence showing bad faith:
- Your landlord recently tried to illegally increase your rent
- Your landlord told you or someone else that the notice is not genuine
After the Hearing – What if I am Evicted?
If the Board orders that the tenants must vacate the rental unit, they must do so by the date ordered. If the tenants do not vacate by that date, the landlord may ask the Sheriff to enforce the Board’s order by changing the locks to the unit.
Tenants should keep an eye on the rental unit for one year after the date they vacate. If the tenant learns that the family member either never moved into the rental unit, or lived there only for a short period of time, the tenant may bring an application to the Landlord and Tenant Board and request compensation. Possible remedies include:
- The difference in rent for one year, if the tenant’s new rental unit has a higher rent
- Costs of moving expenses
If you have questions, receive an N12 Notice, or other notice, you are welcome to contact Kingston Community Legal Clinic for assistance.
Kingston Community Legal Clinic 