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‘Law favours the landlords’ Housing
Ontario mulls reforms that could make evictions easier Luke Simcoe
Metro | Toronto
Prince performs at the Met Center in Minneapolis in 1983. David Brewster/ Star Tribune via AP
Tenant advocates in Toronto say proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act tip the scales in landlords’ favour and could lead to renters being unjustly evicted. The provincial Liberals are mulling reforms that would allow landlords to more easily evict tenants for smoking or owning pets. Other proposals include changes to how eviction appeals and hearings are handled and a review of rental increase guidelines. Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Ted McMeekin’s office says the changes will encourage mom-and-pop landlords to rent out secondary suites in their homes, thereby increasing supply and affordability. “We need to do something to give smaller landlords the confidence to get into the market,” said ministry spokesman Mark Cripps. However, by making it easier for landlords to evict tenants, advocates say the proposed laws could make things less affordable — not more. “Big landlords will use this as an opportunity to get rid of more people so they can raise the rent in the units they have,” said Donna Borden, a tenant in
tenant story Gillian Hlinyanszky said she and her husband were threatened with eviction after the bathroom ceiling in their Queen’s Quay apartment collapsed last June and she complained about inadequate fireproofing between units. She claims her landlord agreed to stay the rent until repairs were made, but the couple has been ordered to pay back rent even though the work was never done. She’s fighting the order through the Landlord and Tenant Board, but said it’s been difficult. “The law favours the landlord and tenants are treated as guilty until proven innocent,” she said.
Toronto and member of the national anti-poverty group ACORN. “The rent will just go up and up and up.” Geordie Dent with the Federation of Metro Tenants’ Associations said the province’s list of reforms is similar to requests landlords, including the Federation of Rental-Housing Providers of Ontario (FRPO), have been making for years. Cripps said it’s premature to evaluate the government’s plans, as the changes haven’t even gone through public consultation. “Allegations that landlords are driving this process are 100 per cent false,” he said.