Residential Tenancy Reform Consultation Paper

Other issues and concerns
RESIDENTIAL TENANCY REFORM CONSULTATION PAPER
The preceding chapters contain options for implementing
the government’s commitments for proposed
residential tenancy reform. We are seeking input from you
on how to make these initiatives work.
In addition, we are also interested in hearing about any
other issues or concerns you may have. We want to know
how you feel the system is working, whether you think the
rules are fair and how you think things can be improved.
Below are examples of some comments from constituents
and pre-consultation meetings with stakeholders. If these
are concerns of yours, we invite you to make your views
known. If you have other concerns or suggestions, we
want to hear them too.
Ontario Rental Housing Tribunal processes
We have heard concerns and suggestions about the effectiveness
of the Ontario Rental Housing Tribunal (the
Tribunal). The Tribunal was established to be a more efficient
and approachable adjudicative body than the courts.
In 2002-2003, approximately 70,000 applications were
filed, of which 60,000 related to termination of tenancies.
29,000 of these cases went to a hearing. The average
waiting time between filing an application and the hearing
was 16-20 days (excluding applications for aboveguideline
rent increases). The Tribunal has provided a necessary
service for both landlord and tenants. However,
concerns about the following issues have been raised, and
we welcome your comments and suggestions on these
and any other issues:
• fees
• public availability of orders
• access to mediation
• process for evictions and recovery of rent arrears
• opportunity for tenants to state their case at hearings.
These fees are charged by the Tribunal in recognition that
the service being provided applies specifically to the landlord
or tenant, and is not of a general benefit to the public.
However, the fees only cover some of the Tribunal’s
costs. Should a greater share of the Tribunal’s costs be
recovered through fees? This would benefit taxpayers as a
whole, because their tax dollars would not need to pay for
services sought by specific landlords and tenants.
However, higher fees could be prohibitive for some landlords
and tenants. In addition, some landlords argue that
the cost for an eviction application (usually due to nonpayment
of rent) is already high, considering the additional
cost of Sheriff’s fees. Further, high fees for evictions can
be difficult for tenants, as the tenant is required to pay the
application fee, as well as any arrears of rent, in order to
void an eviction order.
We would also like to hear your views on making information
contained in Tribunal applications and orders more
widely available to the public. We have heard from landlords
and tenants that this information would be helpful in
making decisions about whether to file applications with
the Tribunal, or in preparing for hearings before the Tribunal.
Public interest in making this information more available
will have to be balanced with legislative requirements
relating to privacy and administrative proceedings. We
would like your input on ways to make this possible.
Long-term sustainability of rent banks
The government has recently announced a provincial rent
bank program, which has endowed municipal rent banks
(operated by Consolidated Municipal Service Managers)
with $10 million. Rent banks help keep people in their
homes by providing short-term assistance where the tenant
may have been unable to pay rent. This provides a benefit
to both tenants and landlords, as it prevents the disruption
to both tenants and landlords caused by eviction.
It is anticipated that in the long term, rent banks could
be a sustainable means of providing assistance. We are
looking for ideas on how this can be accomplished. One
example is through “insurance funds.” This means tenants
and/or landlords could pay a very small premium for longterm
protection against short-term default of rent payments.
We would like to hear your views on this idea, and how
to ensure that rent banks can be made sustainable.
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