Latest news with #LTB
Yahoo
19 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Hamilton landlord fined $100K for illegal renovictions that had 'devastating' impacts on tenants, court hears
A Hamilton tenant says she's impressed with a "fantastic" judge's recent decision to fine her former landlord $100,000 for illegally renovicting her and three other tenants, even if they'll never get their homes back. "That's a good place to start to show the landlords of Ontario they can't just throw their tenants out," Darlene Wesley told CBC Hamilton. The senior had lived in her downtown apartment for nearly 20 years and never missed a rent payment when, in February 2023, the building's owner Kevin Moniz evicted her in order to carry out extensive renovations. Wesley informed him in writing and in person she intended to move back in after the work was done — as is her right under Ontario law. But within months, he'd rented it out to someone else. He did the same to three other tenants living in the five-unit building, including Wesley's daughter. The tenants testified during a trial against Moniz and property management company Cornerstone Select Properties at Hamilton's provincial offences courthouse on May 12. Justice of the Peace Linda Crawford found Moniz guilty on four counts of knowingly failing to give the tenants the right of first refusal for their units and fined him $25,000 for each. "A general deterrent in my view is very important in these kinds of circumstances, where there's a landlord with a small building that was once affordable for people," Crawford told the court. Moniz was not present for the trial and did not respond to requests for comment. Crawford gave him two weeks to pay the $100,000 — a high amount for Residential Tenancy Act violations. The charges against Moniz were laid last year by Ontario's Rental Housing Enforcement Unit (RHEU), which is mandated to uphold landlord and tenant rights and investigate complaints. It works independently from the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB). By comparison, in all of 2022, fines stemming from charges laid by RHEU totalled $121,800. Tenant can't afford new place Crawford found Moniz acted deliberately and the impacts on the tenants have been "devastating." "In my view, there was quite a bit of foresight to renovate apartments and he made a decision to essentially flip them and rent them out more than double what he had been getting before," she said. Before being evicted, the four tenants said they each paid less than $700 a month in rent. A new tenant who moved into one of the units after the renovations told the court she currently pays $1,500. The eviction process began for the four tenants in March 2021, when they received N13 notices from Moniz. Their cases went to the LTB, which ruled in Moniz's favour that the units did need to be empty for him to complete renovations. Three of the tenants moved out before Wesley. They all testified they told Moniz in writing that they'd move back into their units when the work was done. Tenant Robert Jewel said he had no other option. He worked a minimum wage job and wanted to keep the unit he'd been able to afford for 25 years, he testified. But one night, when renovations were supposed to still be happening, he walked by the building and through a window saw someone in his unit's living room, watching TV. He later learned it was a new tenant. "And to be honest, I cried that night when I discovered my apartment had been taken away from me," Jewel said. "It's like I'm a second class citizen all of the sudden just because this greedy person comes along." Unable to afford to rent a new place, Jewel said he has been couch surfing at friends and family's homes since he was evicted. "I'm almost out on the street and I don't have my own place anymore and that loss of freedom, I really, keenly feel," Jewel said. Property management company fined Wesley and her daughter had no choice but to find a place together and now pay $2,000 a month, an arrangement Wesley described as a "nightmare." "Now I've got nothing because all my money goes to rent," she told the court. She said she left her place in 2023 thinking she'd definitely be coming back as she took all the steps she was supposed to. In the weeks before she moved, she had provided Moniz with several copies of a signed letter stating her intentions, and verbally told him the same thing in front of a representative from Cornerstone — the property management company Moniz had hired to find new tenants. Welsey testified that on another occasion somebody from Cornerstone was showing a unit to prospective tenants. She told that person, "'all of the apartments ... have the right of first refusal' and he said, 'I know, I know, I know.'" Company president Jeff Varcoe represented Cornerstone in court. He denied the allegations, saying nobody at his company knew about the "entire building being renovicted" and he hasn't been able to substantiate Wesley's account. Crawford said she did not find Varcoe's testimony credible and fined Cornerstone $25,000, plus a $6,250 victim surcharge, for not ensuring Wesley had the opportunity to move back into her unit. "That's not something we have the financial ability to cover at all," Varcoe said. "This will bankrupt us." Crawford gave the company a year to pay.
The Sun
7 days ago
- Business
- The Sun
Sabah-Sarawak Link Road Phase 1 surpasses 50% completion
KUCHING: The construction of the Sarawak-Sabah Link Road (SSLR), a vital infrastructure project designed to connect remote areas in northern Sarawak with Sabah, is progressing steadily, having reached significant milestones as of April this year. Sarawak Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas said SSLR Phase 1 has achieved 52.27 per cent physical progress and is on schedule for completion by the fourth quarter of 2026. 'For SSLR Phase 2, construction works have commenced across all packages, involving site clearing, earthworks and drainage works. 'As of April 2025, overall physical progress stands at 0.93 per cent and is expected to be completed by the third quarter of 2029,' he said during the winding-up speech for his ministry at the Sarawak State Legislative Assembly sitting here, today. SSLR project, which aimed to provide a road network that connects Limbang, Miri, Lawas and Sabah without going through Brunei, was approved in phases by the federal government in 2021. On the progress of Trans Borneo Highway (LTB) development, Uggah, who is also state Minister of Infrastructure and Port Development said that the project also continues to move forward, with the Miri section currently in its design stage and scheduled for finalisation by the second quarter of this year. 'Meanwhile, the procurement proposal for the Limbang and Lawas sections have been submitted to the federal's Ministry of Works for approval by the Lembaga Perolehan (LP). 'The Miri section is expected to be tendered in the third quarter of 2025, while the Limbang and Lawas sections are expected to be awarded in the first quarter of 2026,' he said.
Barnama
7 days ago
- Business
- Barnama
Sabah-Sarawak Link Road Phase 1 Surpasses 50 Pct Completion
KUCHING, May 28 (Bernama) -- The construction of the Sarawak-Sabah Link Road (SSLR), a vital infrastructure project designed to connect remote areas in northern Sarawak with Sabah, is progressing steadily, having reached significant milestones as of April this year. Sarawak Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas said SSLR Phase 1 has achieved 52.27 per cent physical progress and is on schedule for completion by the fourth quarter of 2026. 'For SSLR Phase 2, construction works have commenced across all packages, involving site clearing, earthworks and drainage works. 'As of April 2025, overall physical progress stands at 0.93 per cent and is expected to be completed by the third quarter of 2029,' he said during the winding-up speech for his ministry at the Sarawak State Legislative Assembly sitting here, today. SSLR project, which aimed to provide a road network that connects Limbang, Miri, Lawas and Sabah without going through Brunei, was approved in phases by the federal government in 2021. On the progress of Trans Borneo Highway (LTB) development, Uggah, who is also state Minister of Infrastructure and Port Development said that the project also continues to move forward, with the Miri section currently in its design stage and scheduled for finalisation by the second quarter of this year. 'Meanwhile, the procurement proposal for the Limbang and Lawas sections have been submitted to the federal's Ministry of Works for approval by the Lembaga Perolehan (LP). 'The Miri section is expected to be tendered in the third quarter of 2025, while the Limbang and Lawas sections are expected to be awarded in the first quarter of 2026,' he said. -- BERNAMA
Yahoo
10-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Ontario's Landlord and Tenant Board isn't working for anyone, so how do the parties plan to fix it?
After losing more than $8,000 to a person he describes as "a professional tenant," landlord Nicholas Sikatori wants provincial politicians to fix Ontario's "badly broken" Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB). At the top of his list is allowing landlords to quickly evict tenants in clear cases of non-payment, avoiding what is now often a months-long process he said hurts both tenants and landlords. "It's easy to fix," Sikatori told CBC News. "No rent, no stay. Landlords are leaving units empty because of the risk [of renting to bad tenants] right now." Sikatori endured a six-month ordeal to evict a tenant who stopped paying after the second month, intentionally delaying the legal eviction process, then demanded thousands of dollars in payment to leave. It started last August when Sikatori bought an eight-unit apartment on Ross Street in St. Thomas, Ont., renting out a two-bedroom apartment to a man who receives a monthly stipend from the Ontario Works Program. Their arrangement was that the tenant's $1,200 Ontario Works rent supplement was paid to Sikatori directly, with the tenant agreeing to cover the balance on the $1,800 monthly rent. Sikatori said the man paid first and last month's rent and also paid for September. After that, Sikatori said his tenant didn't make another payment. 'Landlords are leaving units empty because of the risk right now' - Claire Whittnebel, ACORN Sikatori filed an L1 form with the LTB, which is a legal eviction notice used in cases of non-payment. However it took months to play out, in part because the tenant was able to get two stay orders approved by the board, each one delaying the eviction by more than a month. Sikatori said the tenant also failed to show up to some of the LTB online hearings, and those no-shows added to the delay. "The adjudicator would just postpone it, leaving me helpless," said Sikatori. A few months into the troubled tenancy, Sikatori said his tenant asked him for $10,000 to leave in a "cash for keys" deal. "He wasn't going to leave otherwise," said Sikatori. "He was not afraid of being evicted by the sheriff." Sikatori did some digging and said he learned his tenant had used similar tactics against previous landlords. Sikatori said the last landlord gave Sikatori a false positive reference just to get rid of him. Desperate, and now out thousands in rent, Sikatori threatened to post his eviction notices against the man on Openroom, a website that compiles court documents and LTB decisions in a searchable online database. Sikatori said the site has become a standard tool for landlords to screen prospective tenants. The tenant eventually agreed to vacate, so long as Sikatori didn't post his eviction order to Openroom and also agreed to stop chasing him for back rent. "If I had paid him $10,000, that would have been his first and last month's rent for his next apartment," said Sikatori. While tenants often complain the LTB works against them, Sikatori said his months-long ordeal illustrates the LTB isn't serving landlords well either, because it can tie up rental suites for months. A tenant from the Webster Street apartments in London holds a sign advocating for city officials to strengthen their renoviction bylaw by requiring landlords to relocate and provide rent top-ups to displaced tenants. (Isha Bhargava/CBC) Sikatori's situation illustrates what was clearly spelled out in a scathing 2023 Ombudsman's report which found widespread problems at the LTB, illustrating it isn't working well for landlords or tenants. A report released last year by Tribunals Ontario found the LTB had a backlog of 53,000 unresolved cases. Tenants also say fixes needed Claire Whittnebel of the London chapter of the tenants rights group ACORN agrees the LTB "isn't working for anyone." However, she said any fixes coming from the next government at Queen's Park should first be directed to helping tenants, saying the system is weighted in favour of landlords. 'In our experience, landlords have more access to lawyers - Claire Whittnebel She'd like to see a return to in-person hearings, which are now only done by video chat, and a triage process for tenant applications to speed up the hearing process. "In our experience, landlords have more resources to access lawyers," she said. "The system needs to be improved, but our focus is on tenant situations." What the parties are saying Ontario PC's told CBC News in November they're spending an additional $6.5 million for 40 new LTB adjudicators along with five new staff members. Also last fall, the province announced it would introduce the Cutting Red Tape, Building Ontario Act to speed up operations at the LTB, by allowing staff to overlook small mistakes in applications and give executives the power to reassign cases to a new adjudicator if the original one fails to complete a hearing. A spokesperson for the Ministry of the Attorney General said the province has made recent investments in the LTB — including spending an additional $6.5 million in 2023-24 for 40 new adjudicators and five new staff. ACORN was critical of those changes, saying they included measures that would allow consumer reporting agencies more access to information about tenants who'd fallen behind on their rent. In a statement to CBC News, the Ontario Liberals agreed the LTB "needs an overhaul." They're offering phased-in rent control, and also say they'd hire more adjudicators to get disputes resolved "in two months." They're also proposing an emergency reserve fund to help vulnerable renters avoid eviction if they fall behind in rent due to an emergency. The Liberals also want a return to in-person hearings and more face-to-face supports, including counter service, for tenants who need help with the process. In a statement issued Thursday, the NDP said fixing the LTB will be part of a wider package of supports for renters, one that includes "real rent control" so that rents don't jump so sharply when units become vacant. The NDP is also promising to crack down on renovictions and limit short-term rentals to the property owner's primary residence.
CBC
10-02-2025
- Business
- CBC
Ontario's Landlord and Tenant Board isn't working for anyone, so how do the parties plan to fix it?
After losing more than $8,000 to a person he describes as "a professional tenant," landlord Nicholas Sikatori wants provincial politicians to fix Ontario's "badly broken" Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB). At the top of his list is allowing landlords to quickly evict tenants in clear cases of non-payment, avoiding what is now often a months-long process he said hurts both tenants and landlords. "It's easy to fix," Sikatori told CBC News. "No rent, no stay. Landlords are leaving units empty because of the risk [of renting to bad tenants] right now." Sikatori endured a six-month ordeal to evict a tenant who stopped paying after the second month, intentionally delaying the legal eviction process, then demanded thousands of dollars in payment to leave. It started last August when Sikatori bought an eight-unit apartment on Ross Street in St. Thomas, Ont., renting out a two-bedroom apartment to a man who receives a monthly stipend from the Ontario Works Program. Their arrangement was that the tenant's $1,200 Ontario Works rent supplement was paid to Sikatori directly, with the tenant agreeing to cover the balance on the $1,800 monthly rent. Sikatori said the man paid first and last month's rent and also paid for September. After that, Sikatori said his tenant didn't make another payment. Sikatori filed an L1 form with the LTB, which is a legal eviction notice used in cases of non-payment. However it took months to play out, in part because the tenant was able to get two stay orders approved by the board, each one delaying the eviction by more than a month. Sikatori said the tenant also failed to show up to some of the LTB online hearings, and those no-shows added to the delay. "The adjudicator would just postpone it, leaving me helpless," said Sikatori. A few months into the troubled tenancy, Sikatori said his tenant asked him for $10,000 to leave in a "cash for keys" deal. "He wasn't going to leave otherwise," said Sikatori. "He was not afraid of being evicted by the sheriff." Sikatori did some digging and said he learned his tenant had used similar tactics against previous landlords. Sikatori said the last landlord gave Sikatori a false positive reference just to get rid of him. Openroom, a website that compiles court documents and LTB decisions in a searchable online database. Sikatori said the site has become a standard tool for landlords to screen prospective tenants. The tenant eventually agreed to vacate, so long as Sikatori didn't post his eviction order to Openroom and also agreed to stop chasing him for back rent. "If I had paid him $10,000, that would have been his first and last month's rent for his next apartment," said Sikatori. While tenants often complain the LTB works against them, Sikatori said his months-long ordeal illustrates the LTB isn't serving landlords well either, because it can tie up rental suites for months. Sikatori's situation illustrates what was clearly spelled out in a scathing 2023 Ombudsman's report which found widespread problems at the LTB, illustrating it isn't working well for landlords or tenants. A report released last year by Tribunals Ontario found the LTB had a backlog of 53,000 unresolved cases. Tenants also say fixes needed Claire Whittnebel of the London chapter of the tenants rights group ACORN agrees the LTB "isn't working for anyone." However, she said any fixes coming from the next government at Queen's Park should first be directed to helping tenants, saying the system is weighted in favour of landlords. 'In our experience, landlords have more access to lawyers - Claire Whittnebel She'd like to see a return to in-person hearings, which are now only done by video chat, and a triage process for tenant applications to speed up the hearing process. "In our experience, landlords have more resources to access lawyers," she said. "The system needs to be improved, but our focus is on tenant situations." What the parties are saying Ontario PC's told CBC News in November they're spending an additional $6.5 million for 40 new LTB adjudicators along with five new staff members. Also last fall, the province announced it would introduce the Cutting Red Tape, Building Ontario Act to speed up operations at the LTB, by allowing staff to overlook small mistakes in applications and give executives the power to reassign cases to a new adjudicator if the original one fails to complete a hearing. A spokesperson for the Ministry of the Attorney General said the province has made recent investments in the LTB — including spending an additional $6.5 million in 2023-24 for 40 new adjudicators and five new staff. ACORN was critical of those changes, saying they included measures that would allow consumer reporting agencies more access to information about tenants who'd fallen behind on their rent. In a statement to CBC News, the Ontario Liberals agreed the LTB "needs an overhaul." They're offering phased-in rent control, and also say they'd hire more adjudicators to get disputes resolved "in two months." They're also proposing an emergency reserve fund to help vulnerable renters avoid eviction if they fall behind in rent due to an emergency. The Liberals also want a return to in-person hearings and more face-to-face supports, including counter service, for tenants who need help with the process. In a statement issued Thursday, the NDP said fixing the LTB will be part of a wider package of supports for renters, one that includes "real rent control" so that rents don't jump so sharply when units become vacant. The NDP is also promising to crack down on renovictions and limit short-term rentals to the property owner's primary residence.
