Unpaid rent is an all too common problem. Certainly, it can financially set a landlord back for months to come. What’s the legal recourse for an Ontario landlord whose tenant hasn’t paid rent?

Eviction for non-payment of rent

The only legal recourse is eviction through the Landlord and Tenant Board.  It is never acceptable to, for example, change the locks and lock the tenant out. To this end, here’s a step by step overview of the process to evict a tenant who hasn’t paid rent: 

Eviction notice

• As soon as the tenant missed the rent payment (or your patience in waiting for rent has finally lapsed), the first step, of course, is to give the tenant the right eviction notice.
• This notice informs the tenant that he or she must pay all the arrears of rent or move out.
• Accordingly, it is important to fill this form out properly. If the tenant doesn’t pay the rent, you will have to proceed further. An improper notice can invalidate the entire eviction procedure. It means that you may have to start the process over and waste valuable time.
• You must properly serve the tenant with the eviction notice. To this end, the method of service is another important point to pay attention to. 
• If you do not deliver the notice properly, it, unfortunately, can also mean starting over.

After you deliver the eviction notice

Next, you have to wait and see what the tenant does upon receiving the notice:

• • If the tenant pays, hopefully, everything returns to normal.
  • In case the tenant moves out, you have the property vacated. Accordingly, you can rent it out again and file a claim for the rent owing in the Small Claims Court.
  • When the tenant doesn’t pay or move out, you, without a doubt, should move on to the next step.

Eviction application

•  If the tenant doesn’t pay rent or move out within the time of the notice, you can file an eviction application with the Landlord and Tenant Board.
• Again, it’s important to get all the details right and attach the appropriate documents to the eviction application. 

Eviction hearing

• Once the Board processes the application, it will schedule a hearing and notify you and the tenant about the date.
• At the hearing, you may need to testify about
  • what payments you received.
  • how much the tenant owes, and
  • other relevant issues.

It’s difficult to predict how the tenant will respond. We’ve seen tenants claim they actually made payments. Some of them bring applications against landlords for things like poor maintenance. They do it to justify non-payment. Moreover, some of the tenants simply do not show up. 

After the Board issues an eviction order

• If all goes well, the Landlord and Tenant Board issues an eviction order.
• The eviction order usually gives the tenant about ten days to move out or pay the rent owing.
• Hopefully, the tenant complies. If the tenant does not, you will have to file the eviction order with the sheriff’s office. 
• Also, you can take steps in the Small Claims Court to collect the money the tenant owes. 

How long it may take

At regular times, the length of the process, from the time you issue the eviction notice to the time of the eviction order, is about eight to ten weeks. Then, it may take about two or three weeks more if the tenant doesn’t move out willingly even after the order, and you have to contact the sheriff. However, the Covid-19 pandemic may extend this time.

How Spectrum Paralegal can help

Undoubtedly, having a paralegal on your side throughout this process has a lot of benefits. Here, these are just a few examples of what we do: 

Legal forms: notice and application

We make sure that all legal forms are legally accurate and correct. Although the forms can appear common-sense, there are a lot of technical requirements. Unfortunately, a small mistake can invalidate the entire process. For that reason, you might waste another month of unpaid rent. Too often, we see landlords giving invalid notices or serving them incorrectly. It allows the tenant to stay without paying for a much longer time.

Representation at the hearing

A paralegal can represent you at the hearing. This means that, most likely, you won’t have to speak to the board. Your paralegal will speak for you to present your case in the best possible way. In some cases, you will not have to attend a non-payment of rent hearing.

More help

• We analyze the total of your tenancy situation to see if there are other, less obvious, reasons for eviction. You can use these reasons to evict the tenant quicker or with more certainty.
• Finally, we help you avoid the stress, time and hassle of learning about the eviction process.
• Spectrum Paralegal will communicate with your tenant, prepare and file documents, and attend the hearing.

Contact us

Finally, don’t hesitate to contact us for an assessment of your case. We will handle the entire eviction for you.

We’ll be sure to give you more details on how to evict the tenant through the sheriff, what to do if the tenant always pays rent late, and how to evict a tenant if you need to use the property for your own needs in future posts.

 In the meantime, we wish you a life free of legal hassles!