How do I get rid of a Squatter in my new rental, Southern Ontario

Question

I just got possession of a rental property on July 5/17. With it came a bunch of tenants. I knew of all of them in advance except when we got the house there was an extra occupant that the former owner did not permit to move in. Another tenant in the house invited his buddy to move into the house when a tenant moved out. Didn't run it by the former owner. Here I am with a guy and no tenancy agreement & we've tried everything to get him out. Landlord Tenant Board, Landlord Self-help Centre, Police (2x), Sherrif, Superior court justice's office, Bi-law enforcement office, Building Inspector's office, Provincial Offences office, Paralegal. Nothing but a run-around. Nobody willing to step up & say "You're evicted" and enforce it. Somehow, its legal for anyone to move into an empty room & take up residence even without clearing it with the landlord in Ontario. Anyone have suggestions or similar stories with happy endings?

The latest we got from the landlord self help center today was "file forms for unauthorized occupancy & go to hearings". That will take 2 months minimum. What a joke. Help please.

The latest we got from the landlord self help center today was "file forms  for unauthorized occupancy & go to hearings". That will take 2 months minimum. What a joke. Help please.

Thomas S. · Answer

You do not have any other option except to file with the LTB.

Your quicker option is not appropiate to post.

Ralph Noack · Answer

We did pursue the proper channels. Filed all of the necessary papers with the Landlord Tenant Board to begin the process and then waited. This was 3 1/2yrs ago.

Problem tenant #1: very simple he just didn't pay rent. That's easy. File the forms & take him to the board. My worry was that he would come up with the money. I didn't want his money. I'd much sooner he was out. I had it on the authority of the previous owner that he hadn't paid in 4 months, but he couldn't be bothered to do anything about it. He gave up & made it my problem.

Problem tenant #2: his girlfriend. During the transition from the previous owner to me, 2 other tenants moved out & this guy told his girlfriend that she could move into the house. Keep in mind, this is a rooming house, charge by the room. So tenant #1 invites tenant #2 into the house without running it by the owner.

Problem tenant #3: his buddy. a week before I got possession, same thing. Tenant #1 tells his buddy to move into one of the empty rooms. No consultation.

I asked the girlfriend what her lease arrangement was. She wasn't too smart, "I don't have one. I just moved in." She couldn't even figure out how to lie to me. It was Sat. morning. I told her that she had until the end of the weekend to be out of her room. Very dumb of me. She immediately starts moving her stuff into her boyfriend's room across the hall. My bad. She ended up staying for a while.

So after I had consulted with every organization I could think of, we filed the papers. When we got our hearing date, we, like everyone else out there were very doubtful of any positive outcome.

Tenant #1 told the judge he'd like to stay & said he'd make a payment plan to get up to date on the rent. "Is that Ok with  you ?" the judge asked. "No. He has no job. No income. Lies all the time & I don't trust him." So the judge told him that he is evicted.

And seeing as the girl (tenant #2) was in his room, she had to get out as well. That was easier than I expected.

The adjudicator heard the case of tenant #3 but wouldn't give a decision. "I'll mail it out," he said. 10 days later we received in the mail a document saying that he was also evicted. In fact, the ruling stated that the individual "...has no tenancy, therefore the Landlord-Tenant Act does not apply." He had no arrangement to be there, so the act does not apply. Straight forward. I was very pleased. Within a month, they all moved out. Some of them only 3 doors down, but at least they were out of my house. Whole process took about 3-4 months.

I also evicted a group of 5 girls 5 months ago (just for noise complaints). Very easy.

Since I started investing, all I hears was doom & gloom about bad tenants, and even worse about the Landlord-Tenant Board. "Everything is in the favour of the tenant," everyone says. To a degree, its true. I've heard that Ontario is among the most tenant-favoured jurisdictions in all of North America. It actually works in my favour. There's a certain portion of society that won't be willing to take the risks of being a landlord in Ontario. So I have less competition. And I would think that to a degree, the strictness of the rules possibly make the system better for the tenant (i.e. if the laws favour the tenant, then that holds the landlords to a higher degree of accountability).

In the end, I needed 3 people booted out of my house. I followed the process & it worked for me. Of course I would have enjoyed it more if it went faster. But there has to be some cost to me to be an investor.

I also evicted another tenant last year for smoking pot in the house. For those reading this that are not in Ontario, Canada, pot is legal here. However, we have it in our lease: no smoking, vaping, anything. No cigarettes, joints, bongs. Nothing. Not even on the property. I told them numerous times. I even said, "I don't care if you use drugs of any kind, just not in my house or on my property. This is not a statement of judgement, that I am against your activities. Its an issue in a multi-unit house with one forced-air heating system that blows smoke through the entire house." Additionally, I just spent $80,000 fixing up the house & getting the smoke & pot smells (and who knows what else!) out of the walls & ceilings. I want to provide a smoke-free home, and by tenants smoking in the house, they are over time damaging my house. Again I followed provincial procedures & won the case. This took place during COVID-19 shutdowns, when the Landlord-Tenant Board was shut down for the most part. When they re-opened they just issued him an order to get out. Nothing to discuss. Except he didn't leave. He was hoping to file an appeal & missed the deadline. We called the sheriff. He came & gave them 15 minutes to get out of my house. It was amazing. The awesome thing is that the tenant was paying my mortgage down the whole time while he was in the process of being evicted. He wasn't even smart enough to stiff me for my rent. The whole process took 1 year. He was on his best behaviour the whole time because he knew that if he blew it he'd be out. I watched him like a hawk. And my mortgage got paid down. Not so bad. Oddly enough he said to me on the way out, "You landlords have everything in your favour. Tenants get nothing in Ontario." I almost burst out laughing. If he only knew.

I think I got lucky. I know there are lots of people that face much worse scenarios.

Moral of the story (I think there are several):

1)There's a process. I knew that there was the potential for trouble when I entered into the landlording business. Can't complain about the rules after you start the game.

2) I'm not all about taking full advantage of my tenants either. My tenants are building my equity & giving me cashflow. Tenants are good for my financial end game. I need tenants. They are not my enemy. We should not treat them so. So do your part & screen very carefully.

3) Its OK if you have some challenges along the way. Do you go to your job or go through life expecting to have zero setbacks? You are getting paid for this, right? You learn (hopefully) and move on.

Peace.

Matt Geerts · Answer

As far as I can tell, you are hogtied by the RTA. You have no control over who lives in your house in Ontario. If you rent to a single girl and suddenly there's a dude living there, too, well... he's a tenant now. So you were renting all-inclusive assuming one person would be showering and now there's 4? Sorry, tenants have all the rights.

I've said it at least a dozen times here on BP. Go find the PDF of the RTA, print it off and put a copy beside your toilet so you can read it every day while you're in the right mindset.

Account Closed · Answer

If  you have access to the owner. And they can write a temporary lease in mine or my companies name and provide me with a key. I can remove your squatters legally and quickly. For a fee. Usually 6 months rent.

Shanice Stewart · Answer

Great recap ! A lot of learning opportunities there. Thanks !

Walter Weinreich · Answer

I have "kind-of" a similar situation with squatters.

Were you able to get them out? Any advice?

Ralph Noack · Answer

Meghan Chomut

Everything  that I have found regarding overholding tenants is related to commercial RE. We are in a legal duplex only.

And the Sherrif wouldn't touch it without an order from the LTB tribunal. Crazy, eh?

Meghan Chomut · Answer

Since his name isn't on the lease, wouldn't it be trespassing? The Sherrif couldn't help?

Have you heard of filing as a "over holding tenant"?

Meghan Chomut · Answer

What a nightmare!! Sounds like you've tried EVERYTHING.

Have you heard of Howard Tavroges? https://www.tavrogeslegal.com/who-is-tavroges-lega...

He might have some ideas for you.

How do I get rid of a Squatter in my new rental, Southern Ontario

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