Man sleeping in his car says tenants owe more than $31K, won't leave his rental property

Just last year, Marco had two houses to his name, but for months has been sleeping in his car — all because his tenants, whom he's been unable to evict, haven't paid their rent. 

Marco, 33, lost his marital home in a separation agreement in January. He still owns an income property — a two-suite house in Collingwood, Ont. — but says his upstairs tenant hasn't paid up since June; the one downstairs hasn't since February. 

"I'm covering all housing expenses, the mortgage and property taxes and can't afford to rent in the terrible financial situation I'm in," he said. "I'm drowning in debt."

CBC News is not revealing Marco's last name because he works as a commission-based mortgage specialist and fears it would affect his employment. 

He's filed complaints about both tenants with Ontario's Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB). But because of a backlog that formed during the pandemic, an adjudication process that once was supposed to take no more than one to three months has ballooned to roughly eight. Year-long delays to fully address disputes are becoming more common. 

"I'm at the lowest point of my life," Marco said. "I don't understand how something like this can happen."

The problem appears to be widespread, with tenants across the country refusing to pay rent, refusing to vacate a property, or both. In B.C., the normal waiting period to have a dispute heard has mushroomed from about one month to over four. Nova Scotia is also reporting delays.

In Ontario, as in many provinces, tenants can legally stay in their rental units, even without paying rent, until the dispute is heard and an eviction order is issued.

That, combined with the backlog, has created a climate that often favours tenants, says Asquith Allen, director of policy and regulatory affairs at the Federation of Rental-housing Providers of Ontario (FRPO). 

"More and more people are understanding that the [Landlord and Tenant] Board is taking a while to get to cases," he said. "Tenants are just not paying rent, waiting until the result of that application … It's frustrating." 

The emotional toll on property-owners can be "devastating," he said. 

Marco says after he and his wife bought the property in September 2021, his basement tenant didn't pay rent in full, asking to make partial payments instead. 

Later that month, a city water pipe broke and flooded the basement. Marco says he offered to reduce the next rent payment of $1,700 by $1,000, but says the tenant kept paying even less for several months and, in February, stopped paying any rent at all.

The upstairs tenant stopped paying the $1,900 rent in June, he says.