Ontario's Landlord and Tenant Board prioritizing above guideline rent increase hearings for rest of year

Ontario's delay-ridden Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) is prioritizing applications from landlords asking for above guideline rent increases until the end of the year, according to a memo obtained by CBC Toronto. 

An LTB spokesperson confirmed the plan to focus on above guideline rent increases (AGIs) and previously adjourned matters because they make up a large proportion of the board's aging caseload. 

"Focusing on these applications will help ensure that the oldest applications get scheduled and heard as a priority, as the LTB continues to find solutions to address service delays," said Janet Deline, in a statement.

Stakeholders on both sides of the landlord-tenant relationship are criticizing the move. They told CBC Toronto prioritizing AGIs puts the interests of corporate landlords ahead of tenants already facing sky high rents, and small landlords in debt from unpaid rent because of months-long delays at the LTB.

"You're pushing through stuff for corporations, instead of pushing through stuff for people," said Sharlene Henry, a tenant in Toronto's Weston neighbourhood. 

"It makes corporations richer, while people — be it they're poor, they're working class, they live on fixed income — struggle more."

Over the last decade, Henry's building has had four AGIs approved by the LTB.

She says each one has tacked on an additional $60-$70 a month to her rent and two more AGI applications for 2019 and 2021 are still pending with the board.

Without approval from the LTB, landlords in the province are only allowed to increase rent for most existing tenants by Ontario's annual rent increase for inflation. This year that guideline is set at 1.2 per cent. 

But the Residential Tenancy Act allows landlords to tack on up to an additional three per cent per year through AGIs to help cover the cost of capital expenses like major repairs and renovations. 

Henry's building was one of five Toronto rental properties CBC Toronto reported on in March, where the owner had applied to the LTB for five or more AGIs within the last 10 years.

The capital expenses AGIs are supposed to help cover should be part of the cost of doing business, according to a tenant lawyer with Parkdale Community Legal Services. 

"A lot of landlords will do things in the name of safety, but really they're doing it because they want to increase the rent that they can extract from the units," said Samuel Mason. 

"If the LTB is scheduling AGIs sooner, of course that is in the interest of large landlords."