Delays at the Landlord Tenant Tribunal costing Ontarians dearly

Between March and July 2020, the province had a moratorium on evictions. The Landlord Tenant Board (LTB), that has been charged with handling rental disputes, did not hear any non-urgent cases. But this moratorium led to a massive backlog and the LTB has 50% more active cases at the end of 2021 than the same time the previous year.

A broken process

In an effort to clear the backlog the province is investing $19M over three years. The issue is not just a matter of clearing backlogs. Critics call the process broken and gamed to benefit the errant truants. A common complaint is that landlords whose tenants refuse to pay rent must go through the tribunal to be granted a hearing where both parties must be present. This process idiosyncrasy is abused by some tenants who call in sick, and stretch out the eviction process by over a year. And there are yet other situations where a bureaucratic oversight creates a nightmare for landlords in getting evictions on non-paying tenants. A recent case in Ontario is with a landlord who has not been able to move in to his farm because his tenant is refusing to leave and the tribunal has not sent a written eviction notice to the tenant, despite ruling in the landlord’s favour over ten months ago.

How can a property owner or manager get paid rent on time

The simplest carrot and stick model to get paid rent on time is to use a payment platform like Dwello. The process is straightforward. There is material benefit to the tenants to pay on time. They get a bump on their credit score and get access to special benefits through Dwello’s partners.

The only condition is for the renter to pay on time. This creates a virtuous cycle where the renter is vested in paying on time. Contact us through the form below to share your thoughts on how else the system can improve.