Most residential tenants are great. They pay their rent and are happy to make their rental unit a home.
A few tenants are “tenants from hell”. These tenants stop paying rent, refuse to leave and even after they are ordered to leave, do not, until the Sheriff is at their door.
The number of “tenants from hell” has increased in the age of social media: there are groups and threads devoted to sharing advice on how to delay eviction while not paying rent. Those threads boast of being able to avoid having to pay the lawyers’ fees of their Landlords.
I recently helped put an end to that narrative. You can read the decision on Canlii at 2024 ONSC 6611.
The Tenant was ordered to pay our client the actual legal fees our client has incurred after the Judge concluded that the Tenant sought to file the appeal solely for the purpose of delay. Our case is one of a few I have read about lately where Appeal Judges are calling out the tactics of litigants who are clogging up our already backlogged system, and it’s good to see the pendulum away from benefitting those who manipulate the Court system inappropriately.
Need help with this area of law? Our Licensed Paralegal, Murray Brown, can assist at the Landlord & Tenant Board, and our lawyers can help with any appeals that may come out of those as well.
Inga B. Andriessen, Principal Lawyer