CHAPTER 9: TERMINATING TENANCIES Part 2: Other Fault Grounds Emond Montgomery Publications 1

Other Fault Grounds Other Fault Grounds for Terminating Tenancies Notice Periods, Remedying Breaches, and Second Breaches Time Limits Choosing the Grounds to Use Form N5: Terminating a Tenancy for Damage, Interference, or Overcrowding Defending a Notice to Terminate for Damage, Interference, or Overcrowding Emond Montgomery Publications 2

Other Fault Grounds (continued) Form N6: Terminating a Tenancy for an Illegal Act or Misrepresentation of Income Form N7: Terminating a Tenancy Early for Impaired Safety, Wilful Damage, or Serious Interference with Resident Landlord’s Reasonable Enjoyment Defending Such Notices Steps to Take After Completing the Notice of Termination Emond Montgomery Publications 3

Grounds for Terminating Tenancies In Ontario, residential tenants have “security of tenure”; this means that to evict a tenant, a landlord needs to have one of the reasons specified in the RTA (ss. 37(1), 38, and 39) Some grounds for early termination under the RTA are: Non-payment of rent (s. 59) Causing undue damage (s. 62) Interfering with the reasonable enjoyment of the complex by the landlord or other tenants (s. 64) Emond Montgomery Publications 4

Notice Periods, Remedying Breaches, and Second Breaches The RTA allows a tenant to remedy some of the breaches: causing undue damage interference with the reasonable enjoyment of the property by the landlord or other tenants overcrowding The landlord cannot proceed with an eviction if the tenant remedies the breach within seven days If the tenant commits another breach within six months, the tenant does not have the right to avoid termination by remedying the second breach, and there is a shorter notice period Emond Montgomery Publications 5

Time Limits For all the fault grounds of termination, the landlord must give a notice of termination within a reasonable period of time after the breach The landlord will want to give notice immediately after finding out about the breach Emond Montgomery Publications 6

Choosing the Grounds to Use The choice of which notice (or notices) of termination to give depends on the following factors: Does the landlord want to proceed to an eviction or merely have the tenant behave in an acceptable manner? Has the tenant committed a previous breach within six months (for which the tenant has been given a notice of termination)? Does the behaviour really constitute one ground and include another ground only incidentally? Does the nature and quality of the act make it reasonable to deal with it as an illegal act? Has a criminal charge been laid? How strong is the evidence for the various grounds? Emond Montgomery Publications 7

Form N5: Terminating a Tenancy for Damage, Interference, or Overcrowding Termination date differs depending on whether the breach is a first or second breach Part A: choose the ground of termination that applies to your case Part B: fill in the details of the facts that you allege are sufficient to terminate the tenancy Part C: mark for a first notice of termination Part D: mark for a second notice of termination Emond Montgomery Publications 8

Defending a Notice to Terminate for Damage, Interference, or Overcrowding There are four main ways for a tenant to defend an application to terminate a tenancy based on damage, interference, or overcrowding: showing there was an error on the notice or the application, or with service of the notice or application; disputing that the damage, interference, or overcrowding took place; if based on a first notice, claiming that the damage, interference, or overcrowding was corrected; and seeking s. 83 relief (relief from forfeiture) Emond Montgomery Publications 9

Form N6: Terminating a Tenancy for an Illegal Act or Misrepresentation of Income Page 1 of Form N6: reason for this notice provide details Page 2 of Form N6: Tick off the notice as either a first notice or second notice An illegal act does not need to be a Criminal Code offence; it can be a provincial offence a breach of a by-law The tenant has no right to remedy either an illegal act or a misrepresentation of income Emond Montgomery Publications 10

Form N7: Terminating a Tenancy Early for Impaired Safety, Wilful Damage, or Serious Interference with Resident Landlord’s Reasonable Enjoyment Minimum 10-day notice of termination Specify the reason for the notice and provide details about the reason The details should specify: the name of the person who did the act that gave rise to the application the act that was complained of and the time and date on which it occurred Emond Montgomery Publications 11

Defending Against Such a Notice Similar to defending an application based on a notice to terminate for damage or serious interference A tenant cannot void a first notice by correcting the wrongful behaviour in these cases If you are representing the tenant, bring evidence showing that the tenant has stopped or corrected the behaviour for the purpose of seeking relief from forfeiture under s. 83 The board may be open to s. 83 arguments if the tenant can demonstrate that he or she is willing to rectify what happened and the act is not likely to reoccur Emond Montgomery Publications 12

Steps to Take After Completing the Notice of Termination Ensure that the notice of termination is given to the tenant by: mail courier giving it to your client to give to the tenant process server to give to the tenant Prepare a certificate of service Recommended that you staple a copy of the document to the certificate of service Emond Montgomery Publications 13