Landlords' Own Use - Corporation (Landlord Bielak)

A corporate landlord tried to evict our client nine times because, in their view, he doesn’t pay enough rent. They’ve told him this on more than one occasion. The eviction applications were based on landlord’s own use – that is, a family member has stated that they need the apartment.

The tenant lives in downtown Toronto in a neighbourhood that has been gentrified since he moved there 14 years ago. This, in combination with the lack of rent controls in Ontario post -1998, means that the landlord can now rent this apartment for double or triple what the tenant is currently paying.

At the first hearing in 2002, the Landlord and Tenant Board (the LTB) found that a corporate landlord could not evict for own use as a corporation does not have family members, and the application was dismissed. At the next hearing a few months later the landlord was suddenly no longer a corporation but a person! The LTB accepted this and granted the eviction application

The tenant appealed this decision to Divisional Court, which found that the landlord was a corporation and therefore the second application should not have been allowed. The Court also found that evidence of gentrification and skyrocketing rents in the neighbourhood were relevant to a determination of whether or nor the landlord was acting in good faith.

The Board rejected the landlord’s third attempt to evict the tenant because the case had already been heard and the landlord should not be allowed to have it heard again. The landlord appealed to Divisional Court and ACTO represented the tenant. The court dismissed the appeal and cautioned the landlord that continuing to file applications for eviction was verging on an abuse of process.

In 2009, the landlord filed a fourth application for eviction, saying that yet another family member required the apartment. The LTB refused to grant the eviction application. This decision was not been appealed by the landlord.