Where are evicted people supposed to go?
The shelters are full and we are already paying people to stay in hotels, with meals.
Bailing out delinquent tenants would open up the floodgates.
Another eviction ban would just be kicking the can down the road and digging the hole deeper, and then what?
As Ontario’s eviction blitz continues, Toronto tenants fight for a ban
During the pandemic, Toronto renters have been fighting for rent relief in the face of lost jobs and income, and an eviction ban.
But with Toronto in a second lockdown and many tenants still out of a job, the Ontario Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) has begun, as one adjudicator put it, an “eviction blitz.” Hearings last mere minutes and tenants who have no way to pay rent are handed eviction orders.
Tenants organizers protested the lifting of the moratorium, arguing many tenants were facing precarious rental situations and that lifting the moratorium would leave many homeless.
MPPs unanimously adopted a December 8 motion put forward in the Ontario legislature by NDP MPP Suze Morrison on December 8 to ban evictions for the rest of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, Premier Doug Ford will have to issue an emergency order to stop evictions immediately, as Queen’s Park is on a break until January.
Tenant groups have been calling for a ban on evictions for the duration of the pandemic. But Bryan Doherty, an organizer with Parkdale Organize, says the ban should extend beyond halting evictions and cover relief from arrears accumulated during COVID.
“However long it is that this crisis takes place, we can’t pile an eviction crisis on top of it,” he says. “In order to accomplish that, we also need rent relief from landlords.”
Several tenants called to one recent hearing talked about being unable to afford rent throughout the pandemic. Many are shoehorned into repayment plans for rent arrears on top of monthly rent they already can’t afford. If they are late or short on rent after agreeing to the plans, they can be evicted without further approval from the LTB.
This is due to Bill 184, which the provincial government passed in July. Advocates say it has wreaked havoc on the process of evictions and eviction hearings for tenants. Under the new rules, landlords can negotiate a repayment plan with tenants outside of the LTB hearings.
If tenant agrees to such a plan but fails to fulfill the requirements, a landlord can evict without going through the LTB hearing process.
As Ontario's eviction blitz continues, Toronto tenants fight for a ban (nowtoronto.com)
The shelters are full and we are already paying people to stay in hotels, with meals.
Bailing out delinquent tenants would open up the floodgates.
Another eviction ban would just be kicking the can down the road and digging the hole deeper, and then what?
As Ontario’s eviction blitz continues, Toronto tenants fight for a ban
During the pandemic, Toronto renters have been fighting for rent relief in the face of lost jobs and income, and an eviction ban.
But with Toronto in a second lockdown and many tenants still out of a job, the Ontario Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) has begun, as one adjudicator put it, an “eviction blitz.” Hearings last mere minutes and tenants who have no way to pay rent are handed eviction orders.
Tenants organizers protested the lifting of the moratorium, arguing many tenants were facing precarious rental situations and that lifting the moratorium would leave many homeless.
MPPs unanimously adopted a December 8 motion put forward in the Ontario legislature by NDP MPP Suze Morrison on December 8 to ban evictions for the rest of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, Premier Doug Ford will have to issue an emergency order to stop evictions immediately, as Queen’s Park is on a break until January.
Tenant groups have been calling for a ban on evictions for the duration of the pandemic. But Bryan Doherty, an organizer with Parkdale Organize, says the ban should extend beyond halting evictions and cover relief from arrears accumulated during COVID.
“However long it is that this crisis takes place, we can’t pile an eviction crisis on top of it,” he says. “In order to accomplish that, we also need rent relief from landlords.”
Several tenants called to one recent hearing talked about being unable to afford rent throughout the pandemic. Many are shoehorned into repayment plans for rent arrears on top of monthly rent they already can’t afford. If they are late or short on rent after agreeing to the plans, they can be evicted without further approval from the LTB.
This is due to Bill 184, which the provincial government passed in July. Advocates say it has wreaked havoc on the process of evictions and eviction hearings for tenants. Under the new rules, landlords can negotiate a repayment plan with tenants outside of the LTB hearings.
If tenant agrees to such a plan but fails to fulfill the requirements, a landlord can evict without going through the LTB hearing process.
As Ontario's eviction blitz continues, Toronto tenants fight for a ban (nowtoronto.com)
