Many landlords decide to represent themselves on a non-payment of rent applications at the Landlord Tenant Board Ontario (LTB) as they believe it is easy. A lot of the time it is easy. However, it can become incredibly complex. Most of the time you will have no advanced notice of issues the tenant will raise to make your non-payment of rent application complex.
An L1 application is filed at the LTB to obtain a judgment and evict a tenant. This is preceded by a N4 notice served on the tenant.
If the N4 notice contains certain errors the board member may decline to give you an eviction order. Errors such as a missing an apartment number/unit description, improper termination date, math errors, and failing to properly state the start and end of a month or other term may mean no eviction order.
Section 82 of the RTA allows a tenant to raise any issue on a non-payment of application which they could raise if they brought their own application. The tenant can give the landlord as little as 5 days notice of their intention to raise these issues and sue the landlord. In rare cases, the requirement for notice to the landlord can be waived.
Issues which a tenant can raise and sue you for with little notice to you include: alleging the landlord collected an illegal deposit or fee, harassment, illegal entry, illegal rent increase interfering with the tenant’s reasonable enjoyment, and maintenance issues.
A skilled paralegal Ontario may be able to deal with these issues with little notice. Self-represented landlords usually don’t have the skills, knowledge of the statue and case law, or the understanding of the process to properly oppose the tenant’s section 82 issues.
Most self-represented landlords are unaware or don’t take into account the effect of section 83 of the RTA seriously.
Section 83 requires the board to consider all the circumstances in deciding whether it would be unfair to delay or deny an eviction
Even if the landlord proves that rent is owed the board still has the power to delay or deny an eviction. If the tenant proves certain circumstances exist the board must deny an eviction.
At an L1 non-payment of rent application the tenant can try to work out a deal with the landlord to enter into a payment plan to pay off the rent owing.
Many self-represented landlords are unaware that if they refuse to enter into a reasonable payment plan, the board may impose a payment plan on the landlord.
Paralegals know how to properly deal with these situations. Many self-represented landlords do not know what to say to the board member regarding these issues. How to evict a tenant in Ontario is not as easy as some landlords believe.
Also see our blog on Pay and Stay Orders at https://www.civilparalegal.com/how-does-a-standard-pay-and-stay-order-work/
If you need representation on a non-payment of rent application, contact Marshall Yarmus at Civil Litigations at www.CivilParalegal.com or call 416-229-1479 or call 343-600-7722