According to sUperLIFE.ca, over the past 16 months, Brad Maisonville has had to dig into his savings and even borrow money from friends and take out loans to pay off his mortgage in arrears - just because one of his parents was unwilling to pay the rent. , and don’t want tenants who don’t want to move.
Maisonville said he has now lost at least $50,000 Canadian dollars.
"All my savings are gone, and I still owe a lot of debt." He said.
html Maisonville, 148, is a co-owner of Joys of Music in Scarborough and also owns the apartment at his music school and a two-bedroom apartment above. He purchased the property in 2012, hoping it would become his retirement plan and a place where he would always live.
However, the epidemic was so severe that he had to close his music school and had to save money to survive, so he moved to a smaller place and rented out his apartment.
Initially, Maisonville advertised the space for rent in August 2020, and by September he had found some tenants. The tenants who finally signed a contract with him were a mother and daughter who relied on social assistance. They signed a monthly rent contract of $2,000 Canadian dollars.
However, the monthly rent of $2,000 does not arrive on time. Tenants often only pay $500, $300, or $900 Canadian dollars, and rarely even pay half of the rent.
The lease contract states that Maisonville will be responsible for utilities. Before signing the contract, Maisonville checked with the tenant's social worker, who he said assured him "there would be a check every month for their rent," which he said also made him feel more secure.
But the social worker’s guarantee was not fulfilled.
Maisonville said that after paying the initial deposit, he never received full rent except once in March 2021, while the two still lived in his house.
"Social services changed the check to their name and they stopped paying rent from that point on," he said.
Global News contacted the City of Toronto, who said they could not comment on the details of a client's case in Ontario's work program. The landlord determines the payment of the deposit "in certain circumstances by including the initial rent deposit, rent in arrears or current rent." The requirements and establishment of direct payments should be discussed with the client in advance. The purpose of the policy is to ensure housing stability through access and prevention of evictions.
They added that falling behind on rent would not affect "clients' eligibility to apply for social assistance."
The long process of evicting tenants
The stress of the past 20 months has made it difficult for Maisonville residents with type 1 and 2 diabetes to even make necessary purchases of medicines and medical equipment. He said the financial pressure left him "drained" both mentally and physically.
"I couldn't take care of myself healthily, it was so stressful, and I lost everything I had worked for." Every penny I had saved in my life was gone, and it was not a debt I owed myself.
In April 2021, Maisonville attempted to reach an agreement with its tenants over the payment of unpaid rent and filed documents with the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) in May 2021.
After mediation, a court hearing was set for March 30, 2022 A decision was reached to let the tenants out of the apartment by the end of May, but because of delays in the process, Maisonville said he hasn't been able to get the Sheriff to come out with the eviction.
"I've been going back and forth, getting the paperwork from the Sheriff's Office. to the Landlord and Tenant Board and they are just using my money to buy more time for the tenants. "The whole thing was a mess, and it all came out of my pocket," he said.
LTB said in a statement to Global News that they "experienced significant challenges that resulted in our failure to meet service standards." We are experiencing delays in processing applications, scheduling hearings, and issuing orders.We recognize the impact of delays on those accessing services and we are taking steps to address the backlog, including modernizing our organization and adapting many of our core services, while always keeping justice at the heart of everything we do.
They added that services will be continually evaluated to adapt and improve, and a new case management system has been implemented to reduce the backlog.
Global News contacted the Ministry of Justice, which oversees magistrates, and the department said
Rose Marie, vice-president of the Ontario Small Landlords Association, said the situation Maisonville is experiencing shows that the rental system is overwhelmed.
"There are still a lot of delays, landlords are waiting 6 to 12 days. months before their application can be heard. "Marie said, "They just can't keep up.
According to Marie, Maisonville's case is not necessarily a unique one, and she said she has seen other cases where, even if the court rules in your favor, you may have to wait at least six to eight weeks before a sheriff can help with an eviction.
"I know many, many landlords who have lost tens of thousands of dollars, sometimes up to $100,000... I would say there are thousands more waiting to get through the system. "Marie said.
Marie also believes that this problem is not limited to Toronto.
"This is happening all over Ontario, not just in the Greater Toronto Area. "They couldn't get people out," she said.
Landlord has to live on borrowed money
After using up most of his savings to pay legal fees, mortgage costs, and continuing to pay utility bills, Maisonville has reached the point where he needs to live on borrowed money. Although he thinks he might It would make a difference financially, but he was worried about losing the music school he had worked so hard to build
“I had to borrow money from friends to pay off the last few mortgages. I don't know how much more money I can borrow. I mean, yeah, if I had to sell everything, lose my dream, give up this music school... it would be a travesty of justice. he said.
Tenants still haven’t moved out after court ruling
Court and bank records presented by Maisonville show that the tenants only paid part of the rent and never paid the full amount of rent except in March 2021. He said in 2021 Eviction papers were filed with the Landlord and Tenant Board in April 2016, and a year later the board ultimately gave them until May 31 to leave, but nearly a month later they are still living in the same apartment. place.
"After winning in court, by the way, I still can't get them out. Maisonville said.
According to the court ruling, he suffered financial losses of up to $22,801, but he said the actual loss was even higher because he had to pay bills, loans and legal fees.
"The Landlord and Tenant Board asked I pay their bills because I have to abide by the terms of the contract, but they don't pay anything, so I'm actually paying their rent. "I pay close to $1,000 a month for them to live here," Maisonville said.
While he was devastated by his first-time landlord experience, Maisonville didn’t blame it on the city being littered with bad tenants, instead insisting it was just someone taking advantage of the system.
“This shouldn’t be the case. It's an issue between landlords and tenants, it should be a matter of people following the law and not following the law. ” he said.
