Illegal Rooming House - Re: Tenant

Davies v. Syed, 2020 ONSC 5732

[34] The Court of Appeal in Fraser dealt with a motion where the plaintiffs were a group of neighbours who lived near an illegal rooming house in Ottawa. The plaintiffs sought injunctive relief against the landlords restraining them from operating the rooming house. The landlords had been convicted of operating a rooming house without a license and in fact, consented to an order granting the injunction. The injunction order provided that no steps would be taken to enforce the order until notice had been given to the tenants or for the orderly sale of the property. An application was brought by the landlords to the Ontario Rental Housing Tribunal for an order terminating the tenancies. The tribunal refused the landlords’ application, and when faced with the continued operation of the rooming house the plaintiffs sought an order of the Superior Court on notice to the tenants requiring that the tenants vacate the rooming house. An appeal was brought to the Court of Appeal on the basis that the Superior Court lacked jurisdiction to make the order. The appeal was allowed.