HOUSING UPDATEs

Updated July 13 2020

The headlines:

Evictions will be starting again as of August 1, 2020. On July 6, 2020, the Chief Justice ordered that the emergency ban on evictions will be lifted at the end of the month that the province’s state of emergency ends (currently July 15, 2020). This will allow the sheriff to enforce LTB eviction orders that have already been issued. If you have an existing eviction order, you should contact NLS or your local legal clinic as soon as possible.
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All in-person Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) hearings continue to be 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:

Resources for Tenants during the pandemic - Our sister legal clinic, the Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario (ACTO) has prepared important tip sheets for tenants who are locked out of their units during the pandemic, and tenants who have made applications to the LTB to try and get back into their unit. We strongly encourage tenants to seek legal advice at their local legal clinic if they have an urgent issue.

• 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

Bill 184 is bad for tenants - The Government of Ontario is ramming a bill through the legislature which will fast-track evictions, limit tenant rights at the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB), allow illegal rent increases, and turn the LTB into a debt dispute agency. It passed second reading on May 27, 2020. Our discussion of the bill is available here.

WE URGE TENANTS TO TAKE ACTION
Emergency Action: Text Doug Ford now at 416-805-2156 or email him at doug.fordco@pc.ola.org to ask why he is making it easier for landlords to evict tenants in the midst of a global pandemic that has made paying rent impossible for tens of thousands of tenants across Ontario.

Ask Ministers and the press: “Why are premier Ford and the Conservatives making it easier for landlords to evict tenants in the midst of a global pandemic that has made paying rent impossible for tens of thousands of tenants across Ontario?”

• Premier Ford 416-805-2156 @fordnation
• Minister of Housing, Steve Clark 416-585-7000, 613-342-9522 @SteveClarkPC
• CBC Toronto: (416) 205-5808
• CityNews: (416) 599-2489
• CP24: (416) 384-2400
• Global News: (416) 446-5460
• Toronto Star: (416) 869-4300

Shelter Standards litigation
On May 15, 2020, in response to a lawsuit filed by a coalition of community legal clinics and community agencies, the City of Toronto entered into an Interim Settlement Agreement to protect the health of shelter residents and others during the COVID-19 pandemic. More information about the lawsuit and the interim agreement can be found here.
On July 6, 2020, due to serious concern that the City has not reached compliance with its obligations, the coalition announced they are taking the City back to court.

​Since mid-March 2020, over 617 people in the shelter system have tested positive for COVID-19, 4 have died, and there have been 38 outbreaks in shelter sites. COVID-19 remains a serious problem for people experiencing homelessness in Toronto. The coalition is committed to ensuring that the City complies fully with its legal obligations, in order to protect the lives of shelter residents as well as the health of shelter employees and the public at large.