HOW DO I LEGALLY END TENANCY [I WANT OUT]

[Gem612]

Happy New Year Everyone!

I currently rent out a legal basement apartment in my primary residence. The current tenant is not a `bad tenant` as she pays her rent on time and isn`t damaging the property. However she is very challenging to say the least. She's demanding I take her garbage out weekly, provide parking for her visitors on my driveway and refuses to follow a laundry schedule. She`s been very vocal on how unhappy she is with the internet and cable package I provide as a courtesy at no additional charge to her. She`s even called the renters board in an attempted to secure these demands. On several occasions she`s rudely banged my door to give me a piece of her mind with a few choice words included.


I have a family with young children and don`t need this kind of action. I am at the point where I no longer wish to rent my basement. How can I end her tenancy legally at the end of her lease?



Sincerely

Pissed Off in Pickering

 

[invst4profit]

Only a tenant has the option to voluntarily terminate a tenancy. A landlord can only terminate a tenancy through eviction.



You have two options. You can ask her to leave voluntarily and possibly throw in a cash bribe to encourage her to leave or you issue her an N5 eviction notice for interference of landlords reasonable enjoyment. Is she by any chance on welfare ?

If she refuses to leave voluntarily the eviction process is lengthy and you must be very methodical and calculating in your approach. You basically must turn her tenancy into a life of H*ll for her.

Include with the N5 a detailed list of your expectations, make sure she understands what is and is not included in her lease and hard line your relationship with her from this point forward. Every time she violates the contract or interfere with your reasonable enjoyment send her another N5. Understand this will be a battle of wills and the likelihood is that she has spent a life time behaving badly. You will need to be the most miserable SOB imaginable to match her personality. When (if) she is late paying rent or stops paying rent immediately file a L9 application with the board. This should always be done the day following when the rent was due. Understand you will be taking up arms against this tenant and once started you can accept only one final outcome ............ ......termination of her lease.



Hopefully she will leave voluntarily otherwise you could be in a standoff with her for a very long time. The last tenant I had that did not want to leave voluntarily took me 2 1/2 years to finally evict/ware down to the point of leaving. If you do not have what it takes to fight to take back your property your only option is to throw large sums of money at her to leave. This has probably been her plan from the beginning of her lease.



Proper screening would have discovered what type of tenant you were getting.

 

[Thomas Beyer]

Good insight here by Greg.



Use the clause in the Ontario landlord-tenant act that you can terminate a lease if the landlord (or his spouse or kids) wants to move in ! That might be the easiest here.



Look here, for example, for applicable forms, "reasonable enjoyment" form N7 or "own use" form N12: http://www.ltb.gov.on.ca/en/STEL02_111286.html

 

[invst4profit]

One word of caution. If you chose to go the route of evicting for personal use, as Thomas suggests, do not ask the tenant to voluntarily leave or try any other eviction method before informing them you are evicting for personal use. If you do they will argue you are not being truthful and your application will be denied by the board adjudicators. They are very experienced in dealing with landlords simply trying to evict tenants and know full well that the "personal use" argument is a last ditch effort by the landlord when all else has failed. Even if personal use is the truth you had better be prepared to provide solid proof to support the argument as the board is reluctant to uphold this eviction. Again if you decide to go this route do not give your tenant any advance warning you want them out.



A better alternative for you, since you do not wish to re rent, would be to go straight to the `eviction for renovation". Again do not forewarn your tenant you want them out. Serve them with a N13 for renovation work. You will be required to provide 120 days notice. They have the right to move back in when the reno is completed but if lucky they will not chose this option. But don't worry as you have no intention of completing the reno. Apply for building permits to do electrical and plumbing renovations (not expensive). Explain it is for sound and safety issues related to the original work. As soon as she leaves remove the kitchen. Then do nothing and wait for her to possibly take you back to the board if she indicated before leaving that she wanted to return (she must inform you in writing before she vacates). Explain at the board you ran into contractor and financial issues and you have no idea when the work will be completed.



The advantage you have in this situation, not intending to re rent, is that the Landlord Tenant Board has no power over you as a non landlord. They can order anything they chose but can not enforce a ruling. They can order you pay your tenant compensation but you do not have to pay unless your tenant decides to take you to small claims court (very unlikely). That is the only possible way they can collect from you on a board ruling however a ruling against you is extremely unlikely.




I realize this whole process may be extreme for a novice landlord but you must realize your tenant holds all the cards in this business. If you make the wrong move at the beginning you will lose. I would recommend either the N13 or N12 first (assuming you have a relative that will move into the apartment). Any other first step that fails will prevent you from using either of these option later on and you will only be left with the option of the N5. The N5 is OK but you must have the stamina to go into what will be a very volatile long term battle.

 

[Thomas Beyer]

[quote user=invst4profit]evicting for personal use


He has kids. They grow up. Is it not reasonable to state "I now want this space for my family" ? This is not enough reason to evict in Ontario, Greg ?

 

[invst4profit]

No.




Ontario`s landlord tenant board being very tenant friendly they will not allow him to evict unless he can prove he has a family member actually needing the apartment. It can not simply be a case of wanting the space they must actually "need" the space and prove it.

He could have an aging parent that would need the unit but again it must be proven and implemented if the eviction were successful.



The problem with the Ontario system is that it is so difficult to evict bad tenants that the board has heard every possible deceptive trick by landlords. Eviction for personal use is the most commonly overused landlord trick in the book and as a result very difficult to pull off. It is rarely successful.



The problem arises from the definition of what a bad tenant is. In this case we are not dealing with what the board feels would be a justifiable bad tenant. This tenant would be allowed numerous opportunities to correct their behavior before actually allowing an eviction which is why the N5 route to evict is so difficult as well. Short of termination of rent payment or verifiable criminal activity eviction is a crap shoot (very difficult).



In reality the truth will not gain an eviction in this case and therefore a lie is likely the best path to take. But the lie must be implemented from the start and must be crafted in such a way as to be fool proof. To be safe there must be a relative at least willing to occupy the unit in the event the tenant should check up after the fact or the N13 (renovation) card must be played through to completion.



It sucks to have to lie but if the truth can not guarantee a win there are no other options. Attend any day of hearings in Ontario and you will see how futile the truth really is for Mom and Pop landlord trying to evict "undesirable" tenants.

 

[Gem612]

Thanks Greg & Thomas! This is actually really good news because my mother in-law is really moving in with us this summer. So even though she'll be upstairs with us I could always say she's living in the basement.





- Jeremy

 

[kfort]

And really,... who won't believe you'd like at least 10' between you and your mother in law, right?!

 

[invst4profit]

You will need to do better than just say she is moving into the apartment if the tenant refuses to leave and you are forced to evict via a board application. You will need to have your mother at the hearing as as witness and have her state she IS intending on moving into the apartment as soon as the eviction is granted. Also explain the hardship of her living with you upstairs and her dissatisfaction of not having her own unit otherwise the adjudicator will extend your tenants stay beyond a reasonable point.

 

[RedlineBrett]

Wow I'm really glad I don't do business in Ontario.

 

[jasonpeters]

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