Protecting Tenants and Strengthening Community Housing Act, 2020

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Protecting Tenants and Strengthening Community Housing Act, 2020
Ontario Legislative Building, Toronto, South view 20170417 1.jpg
Legislative Assembly of Ontario
  • An Act to amend the Building Code Act, 1992, the Housing Services Act, 2011 and the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 and to enact the Ontario Mortgage and Housing Corporation Repeal Act, 2020 (Bill 184, 2020)
Territorial extent Ontario
Enacted by Legislative Assembly of Ontario
Royal assent 21 July 2020
Legislative history
First reading 12 March 2020
Second reading 27 May 2020
Third reading 21 July 2020

The Protecting Tenants and Strengthening Community Housing Act, 2020 (Bill 184, 2020; French : Loi visant la protection des locataires et le renforcement du logement communautaire) is a law in the province of Ontario that brought a number of changes to regulations surrounding rented housing in the province. [1]

Contents

Summary

The bill made a number of amendments to the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 and the Housing Services Act, 2011 , including giving landlords the power to offer tenants take-it-or-leave-it repayment plans, bypassing the Landlord and Tenant Board, and allowing landlords to make applications for arrears of rent up to twelve months after the tenant left the rental unit. The bill additionally allows landlords to make illegal rent increases, providing that the tenant doesn't dispute the increase within the first twelve months. [2]

As well, the bill increased the fine for bad faith evictions, allowing the tenant to seek an amount equal to up to one year's rent if the landlord is found that have evicted them in bad faith. [3]

Legislative history

The bill was first presented to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in March 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic in Ontario and less than a month before a moratorium on evictions was declared by the province in response to the pandemic.

Some amendments to the bill were made by the Standing Committee on Social Policy before the bill returned to the Legislative Assembly for third reading, including that all applications that had already been filed but hadn't yet been heard by the Landlord and Tenant Board would proceed under the terms of the bill. [4] It received royal assent on 21 July 2020.

Reactions

Many critics accused the government of favouring landlords and eroding protections for tenants, which was of especially grave concern considering the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. [5] Some tenants' advocacy movements dubbed the bill the "eviction bill." [6]

The Ontario New Democratic Party opposed the bill. [7] Opposition critic for tenant rights and NDP MPP for Toronto Centre Suze Morrison called for the government to "scrap its plan to make evictions easier and step up with rent relief to help see tenants through the economic pain of COVID-19." [8] In September 2020, NDP MPP Jessica Bell introduced a private members' bill targeting eviction tactics used by landlords for financial gain, stating that Bill 184 failed to provide tenants with enough protection. [9]

Others, however, supported the bill, arguing that the Landlord Tenant Board often failed to deal with disputes in a timely manner and that the bill still allowed tenants recourse to mediation for disputes. Steve Clark, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, stated that the bill increased protections for tenants and that the mediation alternatives "would make better use of LTB time and resources, while encouraging landlords and tenants to come to resolutions faster." [10]

The Toronto City Council solicitor advised the council not to attempt a court challenge over the law ahead of a council meeting. [11]

The Institute for Research on Public Policy stated that the bill "has opened the door to a wave of evictions, which will be disproportionately targeted at low-income tenants experiencing intersecting vulnerabilities." [12]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Landlord</span> Owner of a rented building, land or real estate

A landlord is the owner of a house, apartment, condominium, land, or real estate which is rented or leased to an individual or business, who is called a tenant. When a juristic person is in this position, the term landlord is used. Other terms include lessor and owner. The term landlady may be used for the female owners. The manager of a pub in the United Kingdom, strictly speaking a licensed victualler, is referred to as the landlord/landlady. In political economy it refers to the owner of natural resources alone from which an economic rent is the income received.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eviction</span> Removal of a tenant from rental property by the landlord

Eviction is the removal of a tenant from rental property by the landlord. In some jurisdictions it may also involve the removal of persons from premises that were foreclosed by a mortgagee.

Rent control in Ontario refers to a system of rent regulation in Ontario, Canada which limits the amount by which the rent paid by tenants for rental accommodation can increase. It applies to any unit that was first occupied for residential purposes before November 15, 2018.

Landlord harassment is the willing creation, by a landlord or their agents, of conditions that are uncomfortable for one or more tenants in order to induce willing abandonment of a rental contract. This is illegal in many jurisdictions, either under general harassment laws or specific protections, as well as under the terms of rental contracts or tenancy agreements.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Assured tenancy</span> Type of housing tenancy in the United Kingdom

An assured tenancy is a legal category of residential tenancy to an individual in English land law. Statute affords a tenant under an assured tenancy a degree of security of tenure. A tenant under an assured tenancy may not be evicted without a reasonable ground in the Housing Act 1988 and, where periodic changes in rent are potentially subject to a challenge before a rent assessment committee.

Rent regulation in New York is a means of limiting the amount of rent charged on dwellings. Rent control and rent stabilization are two programs used in parts of New York state. In addition to controlling rent, the system also prescribes rights and obligations for tenants and landlords.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve Clark (Canadian politician)</span> Canadian politician

Stephen J. Clark is a politician in Ontario, Canada. He is the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing and a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. He represents the riding of Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes and has served as an MPP since 2010. Clark served as Opposition House Leader from 2014-2015; Co-Deputy Leader, Official Opposition with Sylvia Jones from 2015-2018; and Deputy Opposition House Leader from 2012-2014 and 2017-2018.

The Ellis Act is a 1985 California state law that allows landlords to evict residential tenants to "go out of the rental business" in spite of desires by local governments to compel them to continue providing rental housing.

The history of rent control in England and Wales is a part of English land law concerning the development of rent regulation in England and Wales. Controlling the prices that landlords could make their tenants pay formed the main element of rent regulation, and was in place from 1915 until its abolition by the Housing Act 1988.

In England and Wales, a section 21 notice, also known as a section 21 notice of possession or a section 21 eviction, is the notice which a landlord must give to their tenant to begin the process to take possession of a property let on an assured shorthold tenancy without providing a reason for wishing to take possession. The expiry of a section 21 notice does not bring a tenancy to its end. The tenancy would only be ended by a landlord obtaining an order for possession from a court, and then having that order executed by a County Court bailiff or High Court enforcement officer. Such an order for possession may not be made to take effect earlier than six months from the beginning of the first tenancy unless the tenancy is a demoted assured shorthold tenancy. If the court is satisfied that a landlord is entitled to possession, it must make an order for possession, for a date no later than 14 days after the making of the order unless exceptional hardship would be caused to the tenant in which case possession may be postponed to a date no later than six weeks after the making of the order. The court has no power to grant any adjournment or stay of execution from enforcement unless the tenant has a disability discrimination, public law or human rights defence, or the case is pending an appeal.

The Landlord and Tenant Board is an adjudicative tribunal operating in the province of Ontario that provides dispute resolution of landlord and tenant matters under the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006. It is one of the 13 adjudicative tribunals overseen by the Ministry of the Attorney General that make up Tribunals Ontario.

The Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 is the law in the province of Ontario, Canada, that governs landlord and tenant relations in residential rental accommodations. The Act received royal assent on June 22, 2006, and was proclaimed into law on January 31, 2007. The Act repealed and replaced the Tenant Protection Act, 1997. Ontario's Landlord and Tenant Board is governed by the act.

Rent regulation in Canada is a set of laws and policies which control the amount by which rental prices for real property can increase year to year. Each province can pass legislation, where the purpose is to limit rent prices increasing beyond what is affordable for most home dwellers.

The Costa–Hawkins Rental Housing Act ("Costa–Hawkins") is a California state law, enacted in 1995, which places limits on municipal rent control ordinances. Costa–Hawkins preempts the field in two major ways. First, it prohibits cities from establishing rent control over certain kinds of residential units, e.g., single-family dwellings and condominiums, and newly constructed apartment units; these are deemed exempt. Second, it prohibits "vacancy control", also called "strict" rent control. The legislation was sponsored by Democratic Senator Jim Costa and Republican Assemblymember Phil Hawkins.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eviction in the United States</span> Landlord removals of rental housing tenants in the North American country

Eviction in the United States refers to the pattern of tenant removal by landlords in the United States. In an eviction process, landlords forcibly remove tenants from their place of residence and reclaim the property. Landlords may decide to evict tenants who have failed to pay rent, violated lease terms, or possess an expired lease. Landlords may also choose not to renew a tenant's lease, however, this does not constitute an eviction. In the United States, eviction procedures, landlord rights, and tenant protections vary by state and locality. Historically, the United States has seen changes in domestic eviction rates during periods of major socio-political and economic turmoil—including the Great Depression, the 2008 Recession, and the Covid-19 pandemic. High eviction rates are driven by affordable housing shortages and rising housing costs. Across the United States, low-income and disadvantaged neighborhoods have disproportionately higher eviction rates. Certain demographics—including low income renters, Black and Hispanic renters, women, and people with children—are also at a greater risk of eviction. Additionally, eviction filings remain on renters' public records. This can make it more difficult for renters to access future housing, since most landlords will not rent to a tenant with a history of eviction. Eviction and housing instability are also linked to many negative health and life outcomes, including homelessness, poverty, and poor mental and physical health.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">42nd Parliament of Ontario</span>

The 42nd Legislative Assembly of Ontario was a legislature of the province of Ontario, Canada. The membership was set by the 2018 Ontario general election and sat for two sessions until it was dissolved on May 3, 2022 in advance of the 2022 Ontario general election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Suze Morrison</span> Canadian politician

Suze Morrison is a Canadian former politician, who was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in the 2018 provincial election. She represented the riding of Toronto Centre as a member of the Ontario New Democratic Party, and was the Ontario New Democratic Party's Caucus Critic for both Housing and Women's Issues. She did not run for re-election in 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Belinda Karahalios</span> Canadian politician

Belinda Carmen Karahalios is a Canadian politician who served as the member of Provincial Parliament for the riding of Cambridge in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 2018 to 2022.

Caryma Sa'd is a Canadian lawyer and citizen journalist. She is known for documenting events at anti-COVID-19-lockdown protests in Canada, and also as a landlord-tenant lawyer. She is a former executive director of Canada's branch of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML).

The Commercial Rents (Coronavirus) Bill of the Parliament of the United Kingdom aims to help commercial landlords and tenants in resolving rent arrears that have arisen as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

References

  1. Georgieva, Katerina (11 July 2020). "The province says Bill 184 protects both landlords and tenants. Here's why both sides hate it". CBC News.
  2. Majid, Dania (27 July 2020). "5 Bill 184 Changes to the Law that Tenants Must Know". Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario.
  3. Edwards, Samantha (24 June 2020). "Doug Ford's new residential tenancy law, explained". Now Toronto.
  4. Sharp, Morgan (3 July 2020). "Ontario's incoming tenant law toughened further in committee". National Observer.
  5. "Doug Ford tilts the table in favour of landlords with Bill 184". Hamilton Spectator. 8 July 2020.
  6. Miller, Mira (21 July 2020). "Bill 184 is now officially law in Ontario but tenants and advocates are still fighting it". BlogTO.
  7. Sharp, Morgan (9 July 2020). "'Premier, we're begging you': housing advocates' plea with Ford to scrap Bill 184". National Observer.
  8. Morrison, Suze (11 June 2020). "MORRISON: Don't be fooled -- Bill 184 is bad for tenants". Toronto Sun.
  9. Mastroianni, Julia (18 September 2020). "The NDP is tabling a bill to ban renovictions in Ontario". Now Toronto.
  10. Clarke, Steve (6 June 2020). "CLARK: Bill 184 would strengthen protections for tenants". Toronto Sun.
  11. Gibson, Victoria (28 July 2020). "Advocates say Bill 184 could lead to mass evictions. City council is being advised not to fight it in court, sources say". Toronto Star.
  12. Morris, Sabina (7 September 2020). "Ontario's Bill 184 and the myth of tenant protection". Institute for Research on Public Policy.