Opinion, research, social media engagement, even APA citation - all to be found in this lively life-affirming post

A clarification regarding 'professional tenants': someone like James Regan could potentially live rent-free for a year or longer, if he files notice to appeal, then does nothing to move the matter forward. It would be up to his landlord to follow up.

If the tenant hasn't continued to pay the rent, the 'stay' preventing the eviction will be lifted and the landlord can call the sheriff. The landlord will have to pay for an hour or two (Thiele, 2013). of a lawyer's time to have the motion(s) drafted, but they could include those fees when they seek relief through a small claims action.

I invite readers interested in tenancy issues to explore Ontario Landlord and Tenant Law, a blog maintained by Ottawa lawyer Michael Thiele. Thiele has lots of experience in this area and has seen how landlords, and tenants, behave badly. It really is an excellent resource, and I thank Thiele for it.

Now I'm picking up my 'facts wand,' because I wish to dispel any notion that the Landlord and Tenant Board is biased against landlords. (I just imagined myself wandering the province hitting journalists on the head with a wand ... I don't think that would end well. Instead) I'm going to look at the board's most recent decisions:

Two days, 13 decisions, each of which with potentially life-altering consequences:

TEL-73859-16. Call the Sheriff. +1 landlords.
TEL-73523-16. Tenants homeless as of November 1st. +1 landlords.
TET-72283-16. Landlord didn't appear, easy +1 tenants.
TSL-77257-16-SA. Complex and 'murky,' but +1 tenants. 
TSL-77439-16. Landlord wanted to evict because the faucet leaked. +1 tenants.
TST-74358-16-RV. +1 landlords, because the tenant filed the wrong form.
TSL-76995-16. Landlord wanted to evict a noisy 3-year-old. Dismissed, +1 tenants.
TST-73170-16. Landlord wanted to keep a pile of pre-paid rent. Illegal. +1 tenants.
TST-74633-16. Landlord not responsible for leak. Effective corporate lawyer/paralegal. +1 landlords.
TET-68745-16. Duplex falling down around tenants. Landlord indifferent. +1 tenants.
TET-68956-16. Another shitty unscrupulous landlord. Decision a draw.
TSL-71120-16-VO. A motion (with an anxious tenant in attendance). No points awarded.
TSL-77532-16. Tenant evicted from what appears to be a community housing unit. +1 landlords.

Tenants 7 - 6 Landlords. There you have it, proof that the law is stacked against landlords. WE NEED REFORM!

* * *

I'd planned to review law-related blogs created by my colleagues in the paralegal program, but no one has posted anything yet. I'll list the blogs here anyway:

• insidetenant
• Landlord/tenant law in Ontario
• ONTARIOLAWBLOG

I'm looking forward to following these blogs when they become active.

Reference
Thiele, M. (2013, July 2). Appeals to the divisional court. Retrieved from http://ontariolandlordandtenantlaw.blogspot.ca/2013/07/appeals-to-divisional-court.html

A 'bad apple,' a 'biased journalist'

An accusation of bias isn't always a big deal. We all have biases we'll readily admit to. I'm biased against argyle socks, anything with white 'chocolate,' and people who join a conservative political party. But for many serious journalists, there is no dirtier four-letter word. Journalists are supposed to be aware of biases, both their own (especially their own) and those of others. And they are supposed to make some effort to consider or seek out opposing views.

I admit that I would not be a very good journalist, even if I am sometimes able to entertain a thought without accepting it.

Source

CBC journalist Trevor Dunn has an agenda: "things to be done." He has to pick up the dry cleaning, call his mother, and help generate public outrage about professional tenant James Regan. With well over 10,000 'shares' of the Regan story, Dunn has generated nearly as much outrage as Hydro One's 'smart' meters.

Slow down, you might say. The story is newsworthy. No one should be able to abuse the system the way Regan has. And when Dunn repeatedly reminds readers that tenants have an automatic right to appeal a LTB ruling, he's simply telling us what Regan's current landlord can expect.

No, he isn't.

What's actually happening: large landlords have persuaded the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing (Housing Policy Branch [Residential and Commercial Tenancies Unit]) to reconsider that right to appeal. LTB rulings would be final.

Can they do that? Isn't the right to appeal a court decision firmly established? Yes, it is. But boards and tribunals are not courts, and common law has, erm, 'failed' to entrench the right to appeal their decisions. Provinces must create this right through statute. Tenants in Ontario currently have this right, but they may be about to lose it.

Plenty of large landlords are members of the Ontario Liberal Party, I'm sure.

According to the Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario, fewer than 1% of LTB decisions are appealed to a divisional court. (This is a depressing statistic, since the LTB has been very landlord-friendly since ... forever. It was established by Harper's government, after all.) Almost no one abuses this right. James Regan is an anomaly.

There is obviously little need to amend the Residential Tenancies Act. With ready access to CBC researchers, and with a professional obligation to seek out those opposing views, Trevor Dunn should be aware of this.

There are two sides to any story. Dunn will have learned this in his first journalism course at Carleton or Humber or Bahrain Technical Institute.

In tenants ats. landlords, it's the tenants who lack the resources, and a voice in big media. Trevor Dunn and CBC Toronto want us to believe that tenancy law is biased against landlords, and they know that repetition creates reality.

Now I'm back to let you know ...

No, I can't really shake 'em down. But I did manage to learn a thing or two about tenancy law in Ontario while I was away.

I know that I said I'd look at another LTB decision with this post, but something much more interesting has caught my attention. Or rather, someone.

© CBC News

That's 'professional tenant' James Regan. Regan apparently enjoys living rent-free in apartments in tony Toronto neighbourhoods. Who wouldn't?

And @trevorjdunn of CBC Toronto apparently enjoys naming and shaming Regan. Dunn has written at least four stories about the guy. He has ambushed Regan on camera. He has sat in on his LTB hearings. I wouldn't be surprised if Regan has daydreamed about sticking a potato in the exhaust pipe of Dunn's CBC van.

Regan probably approves. Image © CBC News

Few would dispute that Regan's actions merit attention. Regan appears to have acted in very bad faith. His apparent modus operandi:

1) not pay rent
2) wait for eviction notice
3) think up a way to contest the notice
4) appear at the LTB eviction notice hearing, make a complaint (e.g. faulty air conditioner)
5) ask that the LTB adjourn to investigate the complaint
6) appear at the next hearing
7) think up a way to have that hearing adjourned (e.g. phantom legal representative unable to appear)
8) if that fails, wait for an eviction order
9) apply for leave to appeal the order to a divisional court
10) wait for court to deny appeal
11) find a new apartment
12) see step 1
12a) wait for service of claim
12b) eventually settle with the previous landlord for less than he owed.

Okay, step 12b) is only my speculation. But why else would he bother with the rest of it? Sure, rent is theft, but no one expects the revolution this year.

Clearly the guy is an ass, an ass who has read the Residential Tenancies Act. He's probably read through all kinds of statutes and regulations, looking for ways to screw people. And his actions, with the help of CBC's Trevor Dunn, might have screwed Ontario tenants for years to come.

And how has he done that, you ask? You'll have to read my next post, won't you?