How to claw back rent arrears after getting LTB order

[Michael C.]

Hi, newbie to the forum, was hoping I could get some advice on how to claw back rent arrears after getting Ontario LTB order. Had a bad tenant who took advantage of Covid and ended up owing me approximately $15000 in rent, $2000 in utilities and left lots of garbage/furniture left in my property. The tenant doesn't seem to be the type who would pay and he didn't show up in the LTB meeting, should I try a collections agency or go straight to the legal route using small claims court and garnishment of wages? I know his phone number, email and where he works, but I don't know his current address. I also read online about tracers and paralegals, would those services be useful?

I'm also thinking of filing an L10 with the LTB to claw back the utilities and cleaning fees, if this order gets converted to a judgement, can it be combined into a single wage garnishment procedure? Is clawing back this sum worth it?

[Chris Baxter]

@Michael C. welcome to BP!  Save yourself the hassle and get a collections agency to do what they do best.  You'll recoup 50% of what you are owed, but it isn't worth your time and effort to go through a legal process for a few thousand dollars, in my opinion.   The Ontario LTB system is broken and heavily favours tenants. I had a similar experience a decade ago, and it's the main reason I stopped investing in ON