HOUSING UPDATEs

The headlines:
On March 19, 2020, the provincial government got a court order suspending the enforcement of eviction orders by Sheriff’s offices. The suspension is in effect until normal court operations resume. It is possible for exceptions to be made but the landlord would have to convince the Superior Court of Justice that the situation is extremely urgent.

All in-person Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) hearings are postponed and will be rescheduled at a later date. Options such as written and telephone hearings will be considered where practical. Front-line counter services will be closed until further notice.

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The details:

• If you have a telephone hearing at the LTB it will go ahead. To confirm that your hearing is postponed, call the Board at 1-888-332-3234 or check for updates ONLINE. 
• If you are struggling to pay your rent, you CANNOT be evicted without an Order from the LTB. You must first be served with a Notice of Termination, which gives you the opportunity to pay any outstanding rent within 14 days.
• Once that 14 days expires, the landlord can apply to the LTB for an eviction order. The LTB is not currently issuing eviction orders and it could take 3-6 months to schedule a hearing. You will get notice of the hearing in the mail.
• You have a right to attend your LTB hearing. You can inform the LTB about your reasons for missing rent payment (ex. lost job, reduced hours, sickness etc.) and seek a payment plan for the rent. Your case will be stronger if you can show that you told the landlord, in writing (including email), about your challenges and tried to work it out with them.
• Tenants with Rent Subsidy (RGI)
  
  • ​If you live in a unit where you receive a rent subsidy (Toronto Community Housing, a co-op, or other social housing provider) and you have started receiving any of the new federal government benefits (such as the CERB or CESB) then you must report this income to your housing provider within 30 days of the change. Your rent will change, and in many cases it will increase. You should be prepared to pay increased rent and, if possible, set the money aside to cover your rent increase (30% of $2000.00 is $600.00 a month).
    
  • Usually Toronto Community Housing will exempt $75.00 of employment income from the RGI calculation. They are not giving that exemption for CERB income. A campaign is underway to demand that they apply the income exemption. We will provide updates on the status of the exemption here.
    
    

Help for electricity bills

• From March 24 to May 8, 2020, residential, farm and small business time-of-use customers will pay the lowest rate — also known as the off-peak price — 24 hours a day. That means you will pay 10.1 ¢/kWh no matter what time of day you use electricity. This rate will be automatically applied to your bill.
• Through the Low-income Energy Assistance Program (LEAP), low-income customers can get direct support to pay bills and ensure electricity and natural gas services are not disconnected during the COVID-19 outbreak. If you are behind on your bill and may have your service disconnected, you could qualify for:
  • $500 for electricity bills ($600 if your home is heated electrically)
  • $500 for natural gas bills