Here’s what tenants and landlords need to know
The Residential Tenancies Act is updated with tighter deadlines for late rent repayment
A batch of changes to Ontario’s Residential Tenancies Act (RTA) comes into force on Monday, including shorter deadlines for tenants who landlords say have fallen behind on rent payments.
asserted
landlords → ’ → payments
The RTA amendments, some of which were brought into force on July 1, come out of two bills — Bill 60 and Bill 97.
asserted
some → bring → bills
Earlier in the summer, they were described by a spokesperson for Ontario’s housing minister as being necessary to “restore balance and rebuild confidence in Ontario’s rental housing market.”
asserted
they → describe → market
As of Monday, Sept. 21, here are the major changes that will impact both tenants and landlords:
asserted
that → impact → tenants
- If a tenant falls behind on rent and is issued what’s called an N4 eviction notice (a legal document demanding the money) the tenant now has seven days instead of 14 days to pay.
asserted
tenant → fall → days
If they don’t, the landlord can apply for an eviction.
asserted
landlord → do → eviction
- Tenants who want to raise their own issues at an eviction hearing at the Landlord and Tenant Board, such as problems with their unit, now have to pay half of the rent they allegedly owe in order to do so.
uncertain
they → want → rent
- The RTA now has a formal definition of “persistent late payment,” instead of leaving it open.
asserted
RTA → have → it
It’s defined as rent being paid more than seven days late on at least three different occasions over any six-month period.
asserted
rent → define → period
- A landlord who evicts a tenant for their own or their family’s personal use with at least 120 days of notice no longer has to provide that tenant with compensation or the offer of an alternative unit.
-
asserted
who → evict → unit
Finally, if a landlord evicts a tenant for personal use, the intended new occupant has to move in within 60 days, or the eviction is presumed to be in bad faith.
asserted
eviction → evict → faith
Will this lead to faster evictions?
asserted
this → lead → evictions
Ontario has billed the changes to the RTA as a way to address delays and backlogs at Ontario’s Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB), where non-urgent applications have been known to sit for months before being considered.
asserted
applications → bill → months
A spokesperson for Tribunals Ontario, which oversees the LTB, told CBC News it's been preparing for the RTA updates with “no impact anticipated on caseload or application processing times.”
asserted
it → oversee → caseload
But both landlord groups and some tenant advocates have questioned whether the changes will mean fewer LTB delays.
asserted
changes → question → delays
The halved deadline to pay back late rent “just means you can file the paperwork a little sooner at the LTB,” said Kayla Andrade, founder of the landlord advocacy group Ontario Landlords Watch.
asserted
Andrade → halve → group
“It doesn’t mean that you’re going to get your hearing any faster.”
asserted
you → mean → hearing
The Small Ownership Landlords of Ontario group has raised similar concerns, arguing that the LTB should allow landlords to skip a hearing altogether for non-payment of rent disputes and instead be able to use a faster-moving mediation process.
asserted
landlords → raise → process
Andrade is supportive of the formalizing of the definition of “persistent non-payment of rent,” telling CBC News that previously, “you didn’t know… exactly what the [adjudicator] would consider as persistent late payments.
asserted
adjudicator → formalize → payments
It’s good to have something concrete.”
asserted
It → ’ → something
Tenant advocates call changes a ‘smokescreen’
asserted
advocates → call → changes
Tenant organizations have also argued that the RTA updates fail to address the cause of bottlenecks at the LTB.
asserted
updates → argue → LTB
In a release, the Federation of Metro Tenants' Associations said efficiency was merely a “smokescreen” for “eroding tenants' rights.”
asserted
efficiency → say → rights
Dania Majid, director of duty counsel for the Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario, told CBC News that her legal clinic is deeply concerned that the changes make it easier for tenants to be evicted.
asserted
tenants → tell → News
But that wouldn't necessarily happen faster, she said.
asserted
she → happen → ?
The switch from 14 to seven days to repay rent will “trigger more hearings.
asserted
switch → repay → hearings
And that’s going to trigger a backlog,” she said.
asserted
she → go → backlog
Majid says she expects a similar outcome from one of the earlier July 1 RTA updates, which halves the amount of time for tenants and landlords to request a review of an LTB decision.
asserted
tenants → say → decision
“If you're not able to provide your materials in time at the LTB to request a review there, people are going to end up at the divisional court and that's going to create a backlog there,” she said.
asserted
she → provide → backlog
Then there’s the requirement that tenants pay 50 per cent of the unpaid rent they allegedly owe in order to raise other complaints at their eviction hearing.
uncertain
they → ’ → hearing
“Now the tenant has to file a separate application to raise these issues… when the entire matter could have just been handled at the same hearing,” said Majid
CBC News asked the Ministry of Housing how tenants can recover the money they paid before a hearing if it's found they don’t actually owe it.
uncertain
they → have → it
The ministry did not reply by publication time.
asserted
ministry → reply → time
The Aporia
