A Brampton tenant has racked up $30K in unpaid rent and still won't leave, landlord says
CBC
A Brampton landlord says he's out at least $30,000 — so far — because the tenant at one of his properties has refused to pay rent or move out.
Rajan Kanwar says he's been trying to get the tenant out since May and recover some of his losses, but delays at Ontario's Landlord and Tenant Board have left him with mounting debts and emotionally drained.
"It's upsetting, it's saddening, it's a lot of different emotions," Kanwar told CBC Toronto. "I would like my property back."
Since May, the tenant has paid little or no rent, Kanwar says, leaving him to pay the $9,500-per-month mortgage on the property. That's on top of a $7,500-per-month mortgage on his own family home.
He says the amount he's owed includes both unpaid rent and utilities.
The tenant refused to speak with CBC Toronto. His legal representative has not yet responded to requests for comment.
Kanwar, an IT manager, says he's filed two applications with the LTB since last June.
One application, called an N11, asks for an eviction order on the grounds that the tenant has agreed to go. The LTB ruled on that last month, setting the tenant's departure date for February 2024. But Kanwar says the tenant has agreed to go in the past, then changed his mind.
The other application, for an eviction order based on non-payment of rent, has yet to be heard, even though he filed it seven months ago. That second application, called an N4, would order the tenant to repay Kanwar.
Kanwar says he has no reason to believe the LTB order will be respected — or that he'll ever see any of the defaulted rent.
The LTB said in a statement to CBC Toronto that it ordered the tenant evicted based on the N11 application. But it has not responded to requests for comment on the second application.
The board's most recent numbers show a backlog of 53,000 cases in May 2023 — up from about 35,000 in March 2021. Last month, the board told CBC Toronto it's made improvements to its systems since the province's ombudsman published a scathing investigation on dysfunction at the board in May.
It's a problem Elaine Page, a paralegal who specializes in landlord-tenant issues, says she's seeing more and more of.
"Landlords are getting so frustrated," she said. "It's taking months and months and months to get to the board. It's just, 'I've got to stop the bleeding; I'm going to lose my house, I'm going to lose my own personal property... Just get them out.'"
Saskatoon resident Delynne Bortis knew her commute to work Tuesday morning would be particularly difficult.
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