Since June 1, 2014, the Landlord and Tenant Board has handled co‑op evictions in Ontario.  So, I’m sure you’ll all wondering, how has it gone?  We were wondering too, so we reviewed the first ten orders that have been issued by the LTB and published on CanLII, Canada’s free on‑line database of legal decisions.

Seven of the ten cases were dealt with in Toronto; two in Ottawa and one in St. Catharines  ‑ not too surprising given the number of co‑ops in the GTA.

However, what is perhaps more surprising is that  four of the cases were ones where co‑op members has given notice that they were moving out and failed to do so.  These applications under section 94.10(1).1 of the Residential Tenancies Act¸ are done without notice to the co‑op member. All four resulted in eviction orders which were then served on the co‑op members who then have the right to move to set aside the eviction order and have a full hearing.   One of the four was then resolved on a motion to set aside. The eviction on that one is still pending.

Three of the cases were straight arrears cases. All three were resolved at the Case Management Hearing (CMH) stage.  Two resulted in repayment plans. The third was a case where the co‑op member didn’t file a Response and didn’t attend the CMH; the hearings officer ordered the co‑op member pay the arrears by a set date or be evicted.

The remaining three cases were evictions on the basis of arrears and repeated late payments.  Two were settled at the CMH and the third was again a case where the co‑op member did not file a response or attend the CMH and was ordered to repay the full arrears and move out within about two weeks.

It’s early days yet, but a few interesting things have emerged – in one arrears case, the parties agreed in the settlement that the co‑op member had to stop smoking marijuana – it’s possible therefore to negotiate things other than arrears in an arrears file.  In a couple of cases, the co‑op member failed to prepare and file a Response to the eviction application but providing that person attended the CMH, it seems they were not penalized.  But failing to file a Response AND failing to attend the CMH, in each case resulted in an order being issued against the co‑op member.

Although it’s difficult to tell with certainty in all of the decisions, in most of the cases, it looks like the co‑ops had legal representatives – the co‑ops in two of these cases were represented by lawyers from our firm.  And a couple of the co‑op members were also able to get legal representation too reflecting the fact that legal aid clinics are more able to take on LTB work than court work.

We will continue to keep an eye on the LTB decisions and make you aware of developments in the caselaw.

Filed in: Co-operative Law, Housing

Tags: Co-op housing eviction reform, Housing Co-operatives, Landlord and Tenant Board, LTB