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Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing: Small Landlord Consultation

In April 2016, the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing published a consultation paper intended to gather input from both landlords and tenants about possible changes to the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 (RTA).  The consultation is aligned with the Ministry’s Long Term Affordable Housing Strategy which includes the creation of new affordable housing by encouraging homeowners province-wide to create secondary units or second suites in their homes while requiring municipalities to adopt and implement policies which support and promote the creation of secondary units.

The paper, “Proposals to Encourage Small Landlords to Provide Rental Housing”, identifies a variety of issues small landlords routinely face over the life of a tenancy and proposes changes that would:

  • Allow landlords to pursue unpaid utility arrears at the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) during a tenancy, possibly including termination of tenancy
  • Explore whether to allow landlords to pursue post tenancy issues like rental arrears, utility arrears, or damage at the LTB for up to 12 months after a tenancy has ended
  • Require tenants to disclose to the landlord prior to the hearing any issues that they intend to raise at rental arrears eviction hearings
  • Explore whether any changes should be made to the process for appealing decisions of the Landlord and Tenant Board to the Divisional Court
  • Explore whether to allow landlords to terminate a tenancy based on violation of no-smoking provisions in the lease/tenancy agreement
  • Explore whether to allow landlords to prohibit pets in tenancy agreements in small buildings where the landlord also resides, and
  • Allow emailing of certain landlord and tenant notices, upon consent of both partiesThis is a rare opportunity to give feedback to the government on how frustrating and challenging the small landlord experience can be. We strongly encourage landlords to read the consultation paper and provide their input on these important changes by visiting

English – http://www.mah.gov.on.ca/Page14836.aspx  French – http://www.mah.gov.on.ca/Page14840.aspx

LSHC engaged the small landlord community using an online survey to gather input from our members, clients, subscribers and stakeholders to inform our comments to ensure the submission we developed reflected your concerns and experience.  LSHC also incorporated statistical data we collect with respect to service demand and delivery.

It is our understanding that the Ministry of Housing has analysed the input received through the consultation process and recommendations for amendments to the Residential Tenancies Act have been developed. 

Link to LSHC’s LSHC small landlord consultation cover letter and LSHC’s submission on behalf of small landlords LSHC Submission_Small Landlord Consultation Paper

 

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