How to Avoid Getting Evicted

WARNING - THE FOLLOWING CONTENT IS NOT FOR PUBLIC RELEASE

How to Avoid Getting Evicted

A tenant's guide to the Ontario Landlord and Tenant Board

Topics Covered

• An obligation to pay rent.....?
• Introduction to basic legal concepts
• An overview of the eviction process
• An introduction to the Ontario Landlord and Tenant Board

Introduction

The goal of this book is simple, to provide it's readers with the tools necessary to successfully stop a landlord from evicting you from your home. Throughout this book you will learn many valuable lessons about how the legal process for eviction works and what you can do to stop it.

I feel at this point that it is important to make a distinction between avoiding an eviction and avoiding payment of rent, the two concepts are not the same. The first chapter in this book will explain how your obligation to pay rent works and what rights you as a tenant have if rent is not paid. Just because your rent is not paid does not automatically give your landlord the right to evict you. This concept of a landlords right to evict will be explained you go through through this book.

This book is designed to function as a practical guide for tenants who are facing the threat of eviction. This book is by no means a substitute or legal advice, but given the choice between last minute help from duty counsel or reading this book in advance of a hearing date followed by last minute duty counsel I know which option many of my former clients would have chosen.

I have broken down the reading material much like a reference manual, this is to allow you to use this book as a practical tool during an actual Landlord and Tenant Board hearing.

Legal Jargon

Through out this book I will be referring to cretin legal words and concepts that you will have to have a very basic understanding of in order to improve your odds of success before an adjudicator. So before we do a deep dive into the dark and twisted world of Landlord & Tenant Law we are going to go over some basic legal concepts.

I believe it was (cite here) that said "if you can't explain something simply the you don't understand it well enough". As in the case of law this basic principle if the foundation to every great legal defense.

As you go through the book you will see certain words in bold, these words have a special legal meaning that goes beyond the ordinary use of the word. Pay special attention to the definition of the bolded words as their meaning will most likely have an effect on your case.

The most important legal concept that you must first understand before moving forward is "the truth". Now I know what your all thinking, I know what the truth is, bla bla bla. If you are going to increase your odds of not being evicted then understanding what how the legal system defines truth is critical to your success in front of the Landlord and Tenant Board.

The measure of truth is the consistency, from an adjudicators point of view how you tell the story of what happened will be judged based on how well you can explain your self.

I want you to imagine for a moment that your up coming hearing date is represented as a puzzle. The picture on the puzzle represents the truth of what has happened to you. In your mind you know exactly what this picture looks like and based on this picture all the facts are on your side. Now I want you to imagine that you are sitting in front of an adjudicator at the Landlord and Tenant Board, you just finished listening to your landlord or their legal representative tell some story that from your point of view is a total lie. In that moment you reach into your bag spill the puzzle pieces all over the table and say, "look at these facts, the picture could not be any more clear", needless to say without putting the puzzle together all the facts in the world won't save you.

This book is about learning how to put the puzzle pieces together so when you get in front of the member you are able to show a clear picture of what you believe has happened to you, and give a compelling argument about why you should stay in your home.

Chapter One

The propose of this chapter is to introduce you to the most common reasons why tenants are evicted from their home and what steps that you can do to prevent it.

The following list are the most common reason why tenants are evicted from their homes. I will spend the next section of this chapter explaining in simple terms what each of the below items mean and what you as a tenant can to to avoid them.

The most common reasons are:

• Non-Payment of Rent
• Interference in Reasonable Enjoyment
• Persistent Late Payment of Rent
• Illegal Act
• Impairing the safety of others
• Major Renovations
• Landlord's Own Use
• New buyer's own use
• Unauthorized transfer of the tenancy

The reasons listed above are the only reasons why you as a tenant can be evicted from your home. It is important to know that just because you may have done one of the things listed above does not give your landlord an automatic right to evict you.

The Eviction Process

Eviction is a legal process where a landlord obtains the legal right to take possession of his or her property. There are very specific steps that a landlord or property manager must follow if they are going to be granted the right to take your home from you. All evictions follow the following steps:

(1) - A legal notice is given to the tenant(s) providing reasons as to why they could be evicted. The notice must be an official form that has been provided by the Ontario Landlord & Tenant Board. If a landlord gives a notice of termination that is not an official Landlord and Tenant Board form, then that notice is not valid and cannot be enforced. (See: LTB Forms)

(2) - After a notice is served on the tenant(s) the landlord must make a formal application to the Ontario Landlord and Tenant Board ("the Board").

(3) - Once the board accepts the application from the landlord a Notice of Hearing will be mailed out to the rental address and a second copy will be mailed to the landlord.

(4) - At the hearing the landlord will be given a chance to explain to the adjudicator why he or she believes the tenant should be evicted. As a tenant you will be given the chance to give your side of the story, and provide reasons as to why you should be permitted to stay in your home.

(5) - After hearing both side the adjudicator will either make a decision right on the spot, or provide an answer in writing at a later date. If the adjudicator gives reason orally at the hearing there will still be a written order that will be sent out to both parties in the mail.

(6) - Upon receiving a decision in the mail, the landlord must take the order to the local Sheriff's office and request enforcement of the order. Only a Sheriff has the power to change the locks on your home and physically remove you from the property, a sheriff is authorized to request police assistance if physical force is required.

(7) - Once the sheriff declares that vacant possession has been granted to the landlord the eviction process is complete.

It is very important to understand the ONLY a sheriff can remove you from your home, and ONLY with a valid order for termination issued by the Ontario Landlord and Tenant Board.

What is a Notice of Termination?

The list of official forms for eviction are

• N4: Notice to End your Tenancy Early for Non-payment of Rent
• N5: Notice to End your Tenancy for Interfering with Others, Damage or Overcrowding
• N6: Notice to End your Tenancy for Illegal Acts or Misrepresenting Income in a Rent-Geared-to-Income Rental Unit
• N7: Notice to End your Tenancy for Causing Serious Problems in the Rental Unit or Residential Complex
• N8: Notice to End your Tenancy at the End of the Term
• N12: Notice to End your Tenancy Because the Landlord, a Purchaser or a Family Member Requires the Rental Unit
• N13: Notice to End your Tenancy Because the Landlord Wants to Demolish the Rental Unit, Repair it or Convert it to Another Use

All of the above forms can be found on the Official Landlord and Tenant Boards website (http://www.sjto.gov.on.ca/ltb/forms/). If a form you were given does not look like a form found on the Board's website there is a good chance the form you were given is invalid.