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Author: Marshall Yarmus
Date Posted: July 03 2019
Landlords, how do you defend an Ontario Landlord and Tenant Board T2 Application?
If the tenant does not receive 100% of what they bargained for in renting their apartment, a tenant (current or former) can file a T2 application against their Ontario residential landlord claiming money damages up to $35,000.00, as well as other remedies.
This is one of most common tenant applications that a landlord may have to defend.
The T2 application is also called an Application Concerning Tenant’s Rights. It is filed with the Ontario Landlord and Tenant Board. Section 29(1) sub-paragraphs 2 to 6 of Ontario Residential Tenancies Act sets out the grounds that a tenant or a former tenant can file a T2 application, Application Concerning Tenant’s Rights. The grounds include the landlord, superintendent or landlord's agent has:
- withheld or deliberately interfered with the reasonable supply of any vital service, that it is the landlord’s obligation to provide;
- substantially interfered with the reasonable enjoyment of the apartment or residential complex by the tenant or a member of the tenant’s household;
- harassed, obstructed, coerced, threatened or interfered with the tenant during the tenant’s occupancy of the apartment;
- has altered the locking system to the apartment or residential complex during the tenant’s occupancy of the apartment without giving the tenant replacement keys;
- illegally entered the apartment.
If the tenant proves the landlord did any of the above, the Residential Tenancies Act allows the Landlord and Tenant Board to order the landlord:
If the landlord has interfered with the tenant’s reasonable enjoyment of the apartment, and the Board agrees, then the landlord would be ordered to pay an abatement to the tenant. (A percentage of the rent returned to the tenant.) For example, if a problem persisted for three months, the Board may order the landlord to pay the tenant 25% of the monthly rent times three months to compensate the tenant for their loss of enjoyment.
The order will usually state if the money is not paid by a certain date, than the tenant may deduct the abatement from the monthly rent.
If the tenant was induced by the conduct of the landlord to vacate the apartment, the Ontario Landlord and Tenant Board may also order the landlord to pay the subsequent increased rental expenses that the tenant will or has to incur for a one-year period after the tenant left the apartment. The Board may also order reimbursement for moving and storage expenses.
Tenant applications can be complicated to defend. A landlord should have an Ontario paralegal representing them.