Only 4 of 13 landlords busted for bad faith evictions have paid the fines they owe
Tenants' lawyers say fines are not working as an accountability tool
Of the 13 fines issued by Ontario's Landlord and Tenant Board to landlords for bad faith evictions since 2020 — only four have been paid, the board says.
And some legal experts say not only is lack of payments another sign that the system isn't working to prevent bad faith evictions amid the housing crisis — but that paltry fines are a drop in the bucket for some landlords, whether they are paid or not.
"If the landlord happens to get slapped with [a fine] it's sometimes considered just the cost of doing business," said Benjamin Ries, a lawyer and the executive director at South Etobicoke Community Legal Services.
CBC obtained the number of fines issued since January 2020 and their amounts from the board last month. Most of the 13 fines issued by the end of September 2023 amounted to less than $5,000 per landlord. Two were for $10,000.
Those fines fall far below the maximum of $50,000 for bad faith evictions under the Residential Tenancies Act, the provincial legislation that outlines tenants' and landlords' rights and responsibilities.
The board provided data this week showing only four of the fines have been paid. Another four have been sent to collections for non-payment and five others have been "initiated," meaning the fine has not been paid but has not yet been sent to collections.
"I'm not sure that we should feel all that excited about the ones that have been paid, versus the ones that haven't. There's such a small list here that I refuse to believe the 13 fines represent all of the landlords that flagrantly violate the [Residential Tenancies Act]," said Ries.
Ries said he's not surprised about the limited payments that have been made.
"Usually if a landlord has been fined, it's because the board has found them particularly disrespectful of their legal obligations," he said. "The sort of people who get administrative fines often are the sort of people who might take a while to actually pay them."
Landlords who don't pay aren't always caught: lawyer
Landlords in Ontario can issue notices to legally end tenancies through N12 and N13 forms. The first is used if the landlord needs to take the unit back for their own use if they or a close family member are moving in. The latter is used if the landlord wants to demolish, repair or convert the unit.
A bad faith eviction occurs when a landlord has issued either of these notices to evict a tenant but does not actually plan to take the unit back for their own use or follow guidelines around demolishing the space. A renter who suspects an eviction notice was issued in bad faith can file what's called a T5 form to the board. If the form is accepted, it compels the board to look into the eviction.
Advocates say bad faith evictions are an easy way to get rid of a tenant and then bring a new one in that will pay more.
Under the Residential Tenancies Act, landlords who don't pay fines, including bad faith evictions payments or fines for other offences like withholding heat or electricity, cannot file any new applications with the Landlord and Tenant Board. That means they can't use the board to adjudicate any other disputes or issues until the pay up.
"That's a starting point, is making sure that if you have an unpaid fine, you don't get to continue to use the Landlord and Tenant Board against the same tenant or other tenants," said Ries.
But often, landlords with outstanding charges may not necessarily need to file applications with the board and therefore may not feel compelled to pay up, he said. And depending on the amount of the fine, it might not do much to change the landlord's behaviour.
The Landlord and Tenant Board told CBC Toronto it's committed to "providing fair, effective and timely access to justice for all Ontarians." It said the board "only has the authority conferred upon it by" the Residential Tenancies Act, overseen by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing.
In a statement to CBC Toronto, the ministry said it is strengthening protections for tenants against evictions due to renovations, demolitions and conversions, as well as those for landlords' own use.
Through Bill 97 that passed in June, maximum fines for bad faith evictions will increase from $50,000 to $100,000 for individuals, it added. The bill covers several areas including land use and planning, along with tenant protections.
Ban on evictions needed, says tenants' lawyer
Emmanuelle Bernheim, a law professor at the University of Ottawa, said based on the increase in rental housing prices, it's to a landlord's advantage to evict as fines are few and low.
"The mechanism is not at all dissuasive since landlords certainly figure that they have little chance of being convicted, and that if they are, it's still more advantageous to pay the fine," she said in an email to CBC Toronto.
Samuel Mason, a lawyer at Parkdale Community Legal Services, said agrees fines are not a solution as they don't stop a tenant from losing their home.
"These fines do not put tenants back into the position they were [in]," he said.
"There are so few affordable units for people to move into, that I don't think as a society, that we should be permitting tenants...to be so easily displaced," he said.
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Bernheim said there needs to be more political will from multiple levels of government to better oversee landlords engaging in bad faith practices.
"It would be easy to impose monitoring mechanisms," she said. "Clearly, the LTB is not implementing the tools properly, either in terms of the amount of fines or the monitoring of convicted landlords."