Landlords wait on tens of thousands in unpaid rent due to 'exhausting' Ontario board delays

Ankit Patel says he inadvertentlybecame a landlord when he bought his dream home.

Now, tenant problems and a major backlog at Ontario'sLandlord and Tenant Board(LTB) haveput him in so much debt, he has to sell his mother's homeand has even considered selling the dream home.

The 38-year-old is among other landlords who cameforward to share their stories about how LTB delays are creating stressful situations and financial hardships.

"This was our life savings," says Patel. "I studied in the U.S., came from India. We worked so hard, day and night, to pull up all this money ... our happiness has gone away, from getting a house we thought was our dream home to now, just ruined.

"I might've fallen into this frenzy of this property market going so high that I [thought I] would never afford a bigger house."

'I wish I wasn't a landlord'

Patel immigrated from India in 2004, and workedto afford a home with his wife and two kids. In December, after selling a townhouse months prior, they eventually bought a$1.25-million home in Stoney Creek, along the shore of Lake Ontario.

The lakefront propertyhas the backyard his daughters always wanted and five bedrooms more than enough for them to stop sharing a room.

A short-term tenant was living at the home when Patel bought it, but he says they told him they would move out in early January.

Now, he said,the tenantowes more than $10,000 in unpaid rent and won't return messages. The tenant's partner is also still living in the home, he says.Patel and his family have been staying in hismother's basement, paying off her mortgage as well ashis own.

Documents show he filed an N4 for rent arrears and an N12 (an eviction so the owner or family members can move in) to end the tenancy. Patel says while he secured an LTB hearing in June for the unpaid rent, he hasn't receivedone for the N12.

Patel sayshe expects it will be a year before the matter is all said and done. Realizing he couldn't continue paying for his mother's home and his own, Patel was going to sell the dream home, but says the tenancy issue complicated things.

Now, they will sell his mother's home to try tostay afloat.

"I wish Iwasn't a landlord because I don't want to be one," Patel said.

1st-time landlord struggling to afford rent

Coulter Lewis didn't become a landlord by accident. Hedecided to use a home he bought in Niagara as his firstrental property.

He's had the homesince October 2019, and when his tenants first moved in, there were no issues.

But the rent payments stopped in December.

Lewis saidhe's out some$15,000 from missed rent and damages. He said he filed an N4 and an N5, another form to end the tenancy. But unlike Patel, Lewis says,he hasn't yet had a hearing appointment scheduled.

Lewis may be a landlord in Niagara, but he's beholden to his own landlord in Toronto. And now the bills are piling up.

"As a tenant in Toronto, do I continue the cycle?Do I stop paying rent here? Obviously it would affect my credit and I'm not that kind of person ... but what's the situation for individuals like myself who, I'm essentially now paying two mortgages off."

Lawyer says LTB is roughly 6 months behind

Katie Remington, a lawyer with theHamilton Community Legal Clinic, saystheLTB is roughly six months behind. She saysthe delays are "frustrating, exhausting and untenable" for both tenants and landlords.

"Our hands are tied."

According to Remington,LTB hearings haven't been able to cover many matters in a single session, adding to the backlog.

"We've been advocating to have longer blocks to have mattersheard and have both parties present their full cases."

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She saidthat during pre-pandemic times, someone could file paperwork in-person within minutes, but now they do it digitally and it's taking a week.

"I can't imagine how long mail is taking."

She also said thatin Hamilton and other cities, online servicesarethe only viable option for people trying to use the LTB, which has createdinequities and more delays.

LTB introducing schedule changes Monday

Tribunals Ontario spokespersonMichael McLeandidn't confirm the length of the backlog, but wrote in a statement that the province is makingchanges.

As of Monday,the LTBwillimplementa new scheduling strategy to prioritizemediation services, reduce delays and improve the quality of dispute resolution.

"The plan will allow for more matters to be heard and ensure that landlords and tenants with scheduled hearings to end a tenancy and evict a tenant are provided same-day access to mediation services with a dispute resolution officer (DRO) before moving forward to a hearing with an adjudicator," said McLean.

The plan also includes multiple tenant case management hearings in oneblock with several DROs and holding full-day hearings for most cases involving an application to end a tenancy or evict a tenant. LTB is addingadjudicators too.

For people who can't do things digitally, McLean said,Toronto has public-accessterminals where people can request other formats. He alsosaidmore terminals will be added across the province later this spring.

"The LTB understands the impact that service delays have on personal lives and businesses and we take this issue seriously. TheLTB continues to encourage landlords and tenants to work together to resolve their matters."

Not many options for landlords, tenants

Remington saidpeople should still file with the LTB but do so knowing they may not hear back for at least six months. The exception appearsto be rent arrears, which she saysthe LTB hasprioritized.

She also saidanyone buying a home with a tenant in it would need an LTB hearing to get an eviction order, which means there's no guarantee someone will have possession of the home by then.

But people waiting for a hearing don't have many options.

"The recourses are to try and negotiate if you can, to use other methods other than the board," said Remington.

"It's challenging because if a lot of tenants couldmove or landlords could, they would do that ... but that's often not the case."

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