March 2, 2022 CORNWALL— Today local MPP Jim McDonell reached out to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing Rental Housing Enforcement Unit to pass along concerns from Cornwall Tenants facing possible eviction as a result of a renovation at Cumberland Gardens
Member of Provincial Parliament Jim McDonell offered his assistance to Cornwall Tenants facing possible eviction.
“Our government is committed to ensuring the well-being of the people of Ontario and making sure both tenants and landlords are treated fairly. We want to encourage a safe and fair system when renting a property so both the tenant and landlord can benefit,”said MPP McDonell.
Terminating a tenancy requires an order from the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB). Every tenant facing eviction has the right to a hearing at the Landlord and Tenant Board. A tenant does not need to move out unless and until an eviction order is issued by an adjudicator.
Tenants also have the right to move back into the unit when the repairs or renovations are done. To do this, the tenant must give the landlord notice in writing before vacating the rental unit and inform the landlord of any change in address. A landlord cannot refuse the tenant’s request to re-occupy the unit and they cannot charge more rent than the tenant would be paying if they had not moved out.
If a tenant does not give written notice to the landlord that they intend to re-occupy the unit when the work is done, and the work was not ordered under another act, the landlord must either:
· Provide another rental unit acceptable to the tenant, or
· Pay the tenant an amount equal to 3 months’ rent before the termination date in the notice.
Landlords who break the law can be fined up to $50,000 ($250,000 if a corporation) if convicted.
“I want to ensure that tenants are fully informed of their rights. I have spoken to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing Rental Housing Enforcement Unit (RHEU) about this issue.”
We encourage tenants to contact the Rental Housing Enforcement Unit (RHEU) if they believe an offence has been committed under the Residential Tenancy Act. The RHEU can be reached by telephone toll-free at 1-888-772-9277.
QUICK FACTS
Through Bill 184, the Protecting Tenants and Strengthening Community Housing Act, 2020, the government made changes to the Residential Tenancies Act to make the system fairer and increase protections for tenants and landlords. This includes increasing fines for landlords who break the law and do not allow tenants right of first refusal. Changes to protect tenants include:
· Requiring landlords to disclose to the LTB if they have previously given a termination notice to move into or renovate the unit (to help adjudicators look for patterns and identify landlords who may be breaking the law).
· Increasing tenant compensation for bad faith evictions by allowing the LTB to order a landlord to pay their tenant an additional 12 month’s rent as compensation.
· Providing tenants with two years, instead of one, to apply for a remedy if their landlord evicts to repair or renovate a unit and does not give the tenant the opportunity to move back in.
· Requiring landlords of small buildings to give tenants one month’s rent in compensation for evictions for renovations or repair.
· Increasing maximum fines for RTA offences to $50,000 for an individual and $250,000 for a corporation For more information please visit: https://www.ontario.ca/page/solve-disagreement-your-landlord-or-tenant
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MPP McDonell cares so much neither he nor anyone from his office was in attendance. The Cons will never side with tenants over big business and let’s face it, residential rental property ownership is big business. Most especially if the tenants are lower income folks.
was their any offers by the city to house the people at the Nav center, until renovations were completed?
Why would the government stand by and allow the company to evict all tenants at once. The company should be required to find or offer alternative accommodation to all residents when so many are evicted at once. It’s just not feasible to house that many people in one fell swoop in a town of this size.
Your so right. However the government has a task forse for the last 10 months and still nothing passed to protect us renters. So far we have been given advice, in clearly a truly broken system. There is alot for both sides the landlord and the government to gain. Permits, materials, employment, threatning anyone on assistance that takes the buy out ect.
O