Mental Capacity (LTB)

TNL-60138-14-RV (Re), 2014 CanLII 65154 (ON LTB)

1. At the start of the hearing, P.A. made a motion to be appointed as the Tenant’s Litigation Guardian. P.A. had completed the Social Justice Tribunals Ontario’s application form prior to the hearing.

2. The Social Justice Tribunals Ontario’s Common Rule A10 establishes the procedure a person must follow to request to be a Litigation Guardian because a party lacks mental capacity.

3. At the hearing, I determined that no conflict of interest exists to bar P.A. from acting as the Tenant’s Litigation Guardian, and no person other than P.A. has sufficient knowledge of the tenancy to act on the Tenant’s behalf. It was also apparent, based on answers I elicited from the Tenant, that the Tenant did not comprehend the nature of the review hearing, or of the Landlord’s application to terminate his tenancy and evict him for non-payment of rent. I therefore granted P.A.’s request to be the Tenant’s Litigation Guardian

EAL-73899-18-SA-RV (Re), 2018 CanLII 88414 (ON LTB)

2. In the request to review, the Tenant’s Legal Representative alleges that the Tenant is lacking the capacity to have understood the meaning of signing an N11 form agreeing to leave the rental unit on or before July 31, 2018.

4. While there is no dispute that the Tenant suffers from serious mental health issues, I do not find that lack of capacity to decide whether or not to leave the rental unit follows. The Tenant has the Office of the Public Guardian and Trustee as guardian for property and legal affairs. Had the Tenant required help to deal with the matter at hand, that office should have been joined in the proceeding. As well, should the Tenant truly lack capacity, I have to question then how he could have instructed counsel to pursue the matter before me. I therefore find that the Member who issued the original order properly canvassed the issue of capacity and decided reasonably, on a balance of probabilities, that the Tenant had the mental capacity to decide as he did to sign the N11.

5. I also note that the Tenant has many support persons to help him deal with life issues and to help with relocation. Some of these support persons were present when the Tenant was asked to sign, and subsequently did sign, the N11 form.

6. Absent a serious error of law or procedure, the request to review must be denied. I find that there is no such error in the original order; the Member made reasonable determinations on the basis of the evidence before her. There is no reason to disturb her reasonable findings.

7. The request to review is denied in accordance with Rule 29.11 (c) of the Board’s Rules of Practice because the grounds for considering a review are not satisfied.