During the pandemic, there were massive backlogs at Ontario’s Landlord and Tenant Board (OLTB), and wait times for hearings were taking as long as a year.
After clearing the backlog, the board can now hear a case within three to six months, but some landlords say tenants are still abusing the system.
“It looks like he is a professional tenant,” said Moniechand Latchminnarine of Brampton.
Latchminnarine told CTV News that five years ago he bought a house for his children to live in, but he decided to rent it out for a few years before they moved in.
He said he has had issues with the current tenants over the past four years and he’s been before the OLTB to evict them three times, yet each time there’s been an appeal.
Now that the appeal process has been exhausted, the tenants have decided to go to court, but Latchminnarine said that now that it’s before a judge, he has no idea when or if they’ll move out.
“When I asked for my rent, he says ‘We are in court and when we are in court I don’t have to pay',” said Latchminnarine.
Latchminnarine claims he is owed $25,000 in back rent and said he is stuck paying the mortgage, property taxes and some utility bills.
“I have to continue paying the mortgage. I had to sell my RRSPs to keep the mortgage going. He is not paying a nickel,” he said.
Even though a judge told the tenants they must pay $5,000 in January and $6,000 in February to the landlord, Latchminnarine said the tenants ignored it.
The tenants also did not return phone calls made by CTV News.
Latchminnarine said he is fed up and no longer wants to be a landlord.
“I give up. I want out of it. No more.”
‘System needs to change’
Ontario Landlords Watch, an advocacy group for landlords, said the system needs to change to deal with tenants who are exploiting the rules.
“These are massive tactics tenants are using because times are tough and they are abusing the system,” said Ontario Landlords Watch founder Kayla Andrade. “There is no reason for someone to be able to stay in someone’s unit that long and not be able to make any type of payment arrangement.”
Latchminnarine said he’ll never be a landlord again and worries the tenants will stay in his home for months longer and not pay the rent they owe.
“He came here and told my wife we will be years in court. I’ve had enough and I can’t do this anymore.”
According to its website, the Landlord and Tenant Board said it’s working to improve service timelines. Last year, it scheduled over 105,000 hearings and resolved almost 100‚000 cases which is the most cases it’s dealt with in its history.
