Your first stop for self-help is a review of our FAQs. Take a look at the ever increasing collection of questions asked by Ontario’s small-scale landlords as well as the actual answers provided by Landlord’s Self-Help Centre.
When you serve a notice of termination based on the landlord’s own use, you must provide your tenant with one month’s compensation and it must be given to the tenant by the termination date. If it is not given by the termination date, it is cause for dismissal.
It is considered an offence to give a notice of termination to a tenant in bad faith. If convicted of an offence committed under the Residential Tenancies Act, the landlord can be fined up to $50,000 for an individual and up to $250,000 for a corporation.
Bad faith happens when a landlord gives a tenant a Form N12: Notice to End your Tenancy Because the Landlord, a Purchaser or a Family Member Requires the Rental Unit as a way to end the tenancy because of other issues going on in the tenancy. It means the landlord or their immediate family member does not have a genuine intention to move into the unit for the purposes of living there themselves. If a landlord is found by the Board to have acted in bad faith, the landlord could be ordered to pay the following:
-All or any portion of any increased rent that the former tenant has incurred or will incur for a one year period.
-Reasonable out of pocket, moving, storage, and other like expenses that the former tenant has incurred or will incur.
-An abatement of rent.
-An order that the landlord pay a fine to the Board.
-Any other order that the Board considers appropriate.
When you give a notice of termination for personal use, you must be certain that the person who is moving in will stay in the unit for at least one year. Otherwise, if the former tenant discovers that your daughter is not living there, she can file an application to the Landlord and Tenant Board claiming that the notice was given in bad faith. The landlord would have to explain the circumstances why his daughter did not stay in the unit. It would be up to the Board member to determine if this would be a case of bad faith. The tenant can claim the difference in rent for the period of 12 months, reasonable out-of-pocket, moving, storage and other-like expenses that the former tenant has incurred or will incur.
A tenant can apply for a bad faith application within one year of leaving the rental unit.
With regards to this situation, if you do not pay the amount owed by the date specified on the Order, there isn’t really a penalty other than the 3% annual interest accruing. However, the tenant could start proceedings to collect from you anytime after that date. Some of the possible methods of collecting include putting a lien on property, or garnishment of wages or bank account. The only advice we can give you is to try talking to the tenant and see if you can come to an agreement to allow you more time to pay.