Small Ownership Landlords of Ontario started in the early spring of 2020 as a result of the numerous issues small Ontario Landlords were facing with the Landlord Tenant Board of Ontario. There are many landlord groups on Facebook but the majority are focused on the rental industry. A small group of individual mom and pop landlords began noticing the difficulties landlords were facing with an inefficient and backlogged LTB and decided to start a group on Facebook to offer suggestions, ideas and support.
Unlike big corporate landlords, small landlords often get into the housing rental market to supplement their income by renting out space in their own home, or through the purchase of a first home they plan to live in. Once COVID hit and the provincial government placed a moratorium on evictions, small landlords faced extreme financial hardship as tenants stopped paying rent. Even prior to the moratorium on evictions, the Residential Tenancy Act is complicated, hard to understand and follow and the LTB was already being investigated by the Ombudsmen of Ontario due to the increasingly lengthy delays in obtaining a hearing for anything from damages to property, non rent payments, illegal activities in the rental property etc.
Thus SOLO was born. Our presence has grown to over 2000 members on Facebook and Twitter. We are in the process of being registered as a not for profit organization. We meet monthly by video conferencing and have been working on the following activities:
Meeting with the Landlord Tenant Board Executives
We are planning to meet the LTB’s executives on Thursday October 29th, 2020. We are intending to present evidence that 1) the hearing schedule is still slow and not following first in first out 2) we have extreme cases that need attention 3) educate the LTB on the impact the delays are having on landlords well being 4) any general question you – SOLO members want – us to ask by sending it to solo@soloontario.ca .
Note that we are very fortunate to have this “high level access” so we will try to keep the communication frank and respectful. We will not push an individual agenda, but we will come with suggestions to speed up the process and bring fairness which I am sure the LTB itself will be interested to hear. We will not be going there only to complain but we will offer practical solutions.
Meeting the MP Housing Minister
A letter was sent to the PM for a virtual meeting to discuss our issues namely asking for financial relief due to the eviction ban and LTB closure. We have been directed to the minister of housing as this is under his jurisdiction for our demands.
SOLO member Ruby is also pursuing to reschedule a meeting with the Housing Minister’s Parliamentary Assistant, MPP Gill after the last minute cancellation earlier this month We will continue to pursue until we get a proper hearing with the political branch to ask for compensation.
Outreach with Law Enforcement
We are in the process of approaching the Law Enforcement across the province to try to get some understanding on the apparent lack of consistency when police are intervening with landlords / tenants issues that fall outside the RTA. A draft letter has been prepared and we will keep you updated.
If anyone has any suggestion or contact within the Law Enforcement outreach we will be more than glad to talk to them. Just send an email to solo@soloontario.ca .
Writing to local MPP’s and the Ombudsmen of Ontario
We encourage our members to write and call their local MPP and the Ombudsmen to advocate for change. The length of time for a hearing is closing in on 9 months and many of the small landlords will experience bankruptcy if evictions are not sped up considerably.
Your SOLO Board of Directors
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