Will the proposal of Bill 184 give landlords the power to wrongfully evict tenants?

BY NANA ADJEI-POKU

In the last week of May 2020, Bill 184 passed a second reading in legislature at Queen’s Park.  This Bill is proposing many things, but what stands out the most to tenants is what it is proposing in regard to evictions.

For many tenants, as well as tenant advocate agencies, they are calling this Bill a nightmare and do not want it to become law. In tenants’ opinions, this Bill will allow landlords to be able to circumvent the Landlord and Tenant Tribunal (LTB) and evict them without a hearing. They say it will also exclude them from being able to raise maintenance and repair issues in matters involving rental arrears, which will encourage landlords to keep their rental units in various states of disrepair.

Pre-COVID-19, eviction orders were only issued after a hearing in front of an adjudicator. There currently is an option for both parties to engage in mediation, but this is only successful if both parties agree, otherwise the matter proceeds to a full hearing on its merits.

In reviewing the proposed Bill, there is mention of an “Alternative Dispute Resolution” process wherein the tenant(s) will enter in a payment arrangement with the landlord or property management company, bypassing the LTB. Tenant groups stated that if one payment is missed, the tenant faces immediate eviction, but an official with the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing advised that it is not a process that will see landlords taking advantage of already-vulnerable tenants. The proposed payment arrangement would have to be submitted to the Board for approval at that time, and it would become a consent order (similar to what you receive when you participate in mediation).

If a tenant feels that he/she was pressured into entering the consent order, he/she would have 30 days to appeal the order. This is not mandatory as a tenant will always have the right to request a hearing. There was a huge backlog at the Tribunal prior to COVID-19, and now that hearings have been stayed, the backlog is going to be even worse.

In my opinion, this proposed process is similar to the current mediation process, and if what the official at the Ministry indicated above, I don’t see it as any different from the norm.  In my practice, I represent both tenants and landlords and I can see where this proposed Bill would give landlords the power to wrongfully evict tenants who are genuinely not in a position to pay their rent; especially at this day and time.

I can also see where some tenants may take advantage of this. I have a current client who has tenants who were already in serious arrears prior the pandemic, and have chosen not to pay or attempt to enter into a payment arrangement. The debt for my client continues to rise, and she is now at the brink of losing her investment and may have to declare bankruptcy.

The LTB has long faced many issues and complaints from the public and legal professionals that continue to fall on deaf ears. I am very interested to see if the proposed or revised changes will allow the Board to function and get things moving so that the backlog can be reduced more expeditiously, and for a middle ground to be laid that will satisfy both landlords and tenants.