Evicting a Garage Tenant

[Navroze Pirza]

Need some advice....

I bought an apartment building in Ontario a while back, which had a large external garage.  The garage was rented out to a tenant, who I kept on.

I increased the rent, and while the garage tenant reluctantly agreed, he complained heavily about all sorts of problems with the garage... rats, leaking, roof gutters, sagging beams etc. etc.

As such, I told the tenant that I'm not able to renovate the garage, so if the condition of the garage was not suitable, he could vacate.... and if he wanted to stay, he would have to sign an agreement saying that he was renting the garage knowing it's condition and would be fully responsible to any damage to his property.

He's continually ignored/put off replying to my emails.  Finally, I had enough, and told him to vacate the garage at the end of the month.

According to the paralegal.... since this is a garage, it's not bound by the guidelines of a residential tenant.  Since it's not zoned commercial, and doesn't have a business in it, it's not bound by commercial tenant regulations.

Anyone have a situation like this before?  Is 3 weeks notice enough?  Is there anything I need to be careful about?  I assume I can simply change the locks, and tow the cars he has in there.... any thoughts/suggestions?

[Gagan P.]

He's right, the RTA doesn't apply unless there's a residential lease tied to it. However, I'd speak with a lawyer before simply taking his stuff out of it and changing the locks.

It could be that you need a bailiff to do the lockout and post notice to seize/sell the items inside.