Landlord and Tenant Board Appeals (LTB Appeals)

Landlord and Tenant Board Appeals are handled by lawyers. The legal team at Orcus Law have the knowledge and skills to take care of LTB orders ensuring you get the desired outcome. For information, talk to us today.

Getting rid of a tenant that has appealed an LTB order

The quickest and most efficient way to remove a tenant that has appealed an LTB order is to proceed with a motion to overturn the appeal. A motion to overrule is used meagrely by the divisional court, and it can only be granted under the right circumstances.

Take a look back at the 2019 decision of Prebtani v Szabo where the landlord with success, which saw the divisional court overrule the tenant’s appeal by following it up with an established example that a motion to overrule should only be permitted where:

•  The Notice of Appeal declines to raise a question of law
•  The appeal made holds no meritocracy
•  The appeal made is facetious and an abuse of the legal process

The correct approach in the motion to quash is to present evidence on a motion by revealing that the Notice of Appeal does not raise any mistake of law, but instead, raises questions of fact and law, which were already considered by the Landlord and Tenants Board (LTB). A straightforward statement mentioning that the tenant refuses to pay the rent is insufficient to overrule the appeal. The judge motioning the case will ideally rely on the LTB reasons to conclude if there may be an error of law, or will not find an error where the Landlord and Tenants Board will fairly exercise its judgement. An LTB appeal may be considered valid is where the tenant fails to abide by the obligations mentioned in the Residential Tenancies Act and other interrelated guidelines.

If the tenant needs to proceed with their appeal, the decision of the LTB member must be so extreme that their decision does not meet the expected domain of decision in the present circumstances.

When the tenant fails to pay rent and has not taken any steps to move forward with their appeal, the divisional court will find their appeal as an abuse of process to obtain the benefit of the automatic stay. However, if the tenant raises a valid issue addressing an error of law by the Landlord and Tenants Board, the court will not quash the motion to appeal, as it is fitting for hearing before the divisional court. In an instance like this, the landlord can still count on
Section 134(2) of the Court of Justice Act for a temporary order forcing the tenant to comply with the specified terms and conditions.

The conditions specified will often include ongoing rent payments and rental back payments, including the tenant to appeal within a specified timeframe. However, in previous instances, the court has noticed that for tenants that have a history of non-payment of rent, it is advisable to pass a temporary order for payment should not be made, and for the appeal to be overruled. Every case is different, the landlord needs to depend on established case law to accurately present its need to quash the tenant’s appeal.

Appealing an order

Appeals are made when one party believes that an error in law was made by the Landlord and Tenants Board (LTB). For instance, if the wrong law is applied to the case or if the LTB applies the law incorrectly, both of these situations would allow an appeal. However, the divisional court of the superior court of justice would take a look at the decision and can change it if required.

The landlord will have 30 days after the date of issue of the order to appeal a board decision. For the process to run smoothly, the landlord will need to work directly with the divisional court of the superior court of justice and mail a copy of the appeal documents to the LTB. It makes a significant difference having reputable landlord lawyers like Orcus Law on your side to get a favourable outcome.

If you are worried about the decision made in a case involving the landlord and tenant, it is a clever decision to amend, review and appeal the case. Bear in mind, there are cases in the past that the LTB has made inaccurate rulings.

It can be quite a challenge to structure your appeal into a rational argument. If you are not a legal professional, managing the paperwork alone can be frustrating. Additionally, even carefully curated LTB appeals may not rule in your favour. In situations like these, seeking legal assistance from professional lawyers at Orcus Law is a wise decision. You can rest assured; that they will create and present a sound case on your behalf making sure you get the
desired outcome.

Need help with your LTB appeal? Call Orcus Law today at 905-564-8889 to schedule a consultation.