The 38-year-old landlord and other landlords shared stories about how LTB delays caused stress and financial difficulties.

“This is our life savings,” Patel said. “I am studying in the United States and from India. We work hard day and night to raise all this money… Our happiness has disappeared. From the time we bought what we thought was our dream home to now, it was simply ruined.

“I may be in such a crazy state of the real estate market that I [thought I] You can never afford a bigger house. “

“I hope I am not the landlord”

Patel immigrated from India in 2004 and paid for his house with his wife and two children. In December last year, after selling the townhouse a few months ago, they finally bought a house worth $1.25 million in Stoney Creek on the shores of Lake Ontario.

This lakeside property has the backyard his daughter has always wanted and five bedrooms, enough to stop them from sharing rooms.

When Patel bought the house, a short-term tenant lived in the house, but he said they told him they would move out in early January.

He said that now, the tenant owes more than $10,000 in unpaid rent and will not return any news. He said that the tenant’s partner still lives at home. Patel and his family have been living in their mother’s basement, paying off their mortgage.

The documents show that he proposed N4 arrears in rent and N12 (to evict the landlord so that the landlord or family member can move in) lease. Patel said that although he held an LTB hearing in June to hear about unpaid rent, he has not yet received the N12 hearing.

Patel said he expects this to be a year when everything is said and done. Patel realized that he could not continue to pay for his mother’s house and his own house, and planned to sell the dream house, but he said that the leasing issue complicates matters.

Now they will sell his mother’s house to make ends meet.

Patel said: “I hope I am not a landlord, because I don’t want to be a landlord.”

The first time a landlord earns money to buy a house

Kurt Lewis did not become a landlord by accident. He decided to use the house he bought in Niagara as his first property.

He has been owning a house since October 2019, and when his tenants moved in for the first time, there were no problems.

But rent payment stopped in December.

Lewis said he took out $15,000 from the missed rent and losses. He said that he submitted N4 and N5, which is another form of terminating the lease. But Lewis said that, unlike Patel, he has not yet scheduled a hearing.

Lewis may be the landlord of Niagara, but he is obsessed with his landlord in Toronto. Now the bills are piling up.

“As a tenant in Toronto, will I continue to do this? Will I stop paying rent here? Obviously, this will affect my credibility. I am not that kind of person… But what is the situation of people like me? I am now Two mortgages were basically paid off.”

The lawyer says that LTB is about 6 months behind

Katie Remington, a lawyer at the Hamilton Community Law Clinic, said LTB is about six months behind. She said that delays are “frustrating, exhausting and untenable” for tenants and landlords.

“Our hands are tied.”

According to Remington, the LTB hearing cannot solve many problems in one meeting, which increases the backlog of work.

“We have been advocating a longer period of time to listen to opinions on the case, and let both parties propose a complete case.”

Listen: Evicting troublesome tenants can be challenging for the landlord:

She said that before the pandemic, someone could submit paperwork in person within a few minutes, but now they are working digitally, which takes a week.

“I can’t imagine how long the mail will take.”

She also said that in Hamilton and other cities, online services are the only viable option for people trying to use LTB, which has caused unfairness and more delays.

LTB introduces timetable changes on Monday

Ontario court spokesperson Michael McLean did not confirm the deadline for the backlog, but wrote in a statement that the province is making changes.

Starting Monday, LTB will implement a new scheduling strategy to prioritize mediation services, reduce delays and improve the quality of dispute resolution.

“The plan will enable people to hear more and ensure that landlords and tenants who end the lease and evict the tenant after the scheduled hearing can use the mediation service with the Dispute Resolution Officer (DRO) on the same day before resolving the dispute. Hearing case ,” McLean said.

The plan also includes multiple tenant case management hearings with multiple DROs in a block, and for most cases involving termination of leases or eviction of tenants, hearings are held throughout the day. LTB is also increasing its ruling power.

McLean said that for those who cannot digitally process, Toronto has public access terminals where people can request other formats. He also said that more terminals will be added across the province later this spring.

“LTB understands the impact of service delays on personal lives and businesses, and we take this issue seriously. LTB continues to encourage landlords and tenants to solve their problems together.”

Landlord, tenants don’t have many choices

Remington said that people should still file a lawsuit against LTB, but know that they may not receive a response for at least six months, so they should do so. She said that rent arrears appeared to be an exception, and she said that LTB had made it a priority.

She also said that anyone buying a house with tenants will need to hold an LTB hearing to get an eviction order, which means there is no guarantee that someone will own the house by then.

But those waiting for the hearing do not have much choice.

Remington said: “The resource is to try and negotiate, if possible, use other methods than the board.”

“It’s challenging because if many tenants can move or the landlord can move, they will do it… but that’s not the case.”

Attention buyers, sellers and agents: We hope to hear from you!

We hope you can use this form to tell us about your experience in the real estate market and the pressing problems encountered in Hamilton, Niagara, St. Catharines and Burlington, Ontario.