To make a long story short...

I moved to Ontario based on a job offer from this young construction company. The apartment I moved into is owned by one of the partners in the business.

The summer went very poory due to mismanagement, poor estimating, and a lack of commitment by the fellow who is my landlord. He was very focused on building his new home. After the summer, the other partner was so discouraged that he kind of dissappeared for a while. I was left to my own devices to find work. I was told that there would be work coming, but so far there has been none.

The landlord/partner has been bugging me for rent. I stopped paying this February cause I was broke. I've been telling him it's hard to pay rent with no paycheque.

I've sold a some small contracts of my own and have been working part time. I left a small cheque for him this weekend along with a scathing letter. His response was an eviction notice.

Any ideas what I should do? I plan on seeing a lawyer tomorrow.

Thanks in advance for any angles on this one...

John

Dewt,

To my knowledge there are only a couple of Cdn's on this board...so responses may take a while.

I live in Michigan and own a couple of rental properties, and from my point of view I would rather get partial payment with a note of explanation then nothing.

The eviction process here is a 7 days eviction notice (from when you rent was due)for failure to pay rent...from there it goes to court, takes about thirty days to get to court and of course it gets very ugly from there.

Here in Michigan you would probably have about 45 days before you are forced to leave after the eviction notice.

Most landlords want to avoid eviction because of the ugliness and because of having to go through the hastle of re-renting.

One of my renters always pays partially and leaves me a very nice letter as to why and when the next "installment" will be, so I always let her slide.

Good luck Dewt and sorry to read about this run of bad luck for you.

Hey Weaver, thanks for your reply.

I was not planning on staying anyways. This is, by far, the WORST place I've ever lived. Takes the word 'slum' to a whole new level.

I'm suppossed to be out by the 20th of this month, unless I want to contest... in which case it will go before a tribunal. Then I suppose the timeline is probably somewhat similar to what you described, but I'm not sure... this is a first for me.

I'm thinking of seeing a lawyer to investigate the possiblility of suing the company for the cost of my move here, the cost of moving out, and 'lost wages' for the time period that they have not provided me with work.

I'm surprised he didn't include a layoff notice with the eviction notice. That would have been sweeeeeet.

The only problem with my legal idea is that the other owner of the company I 'work' for is a friend of mine and he would be hauled into the legal mess too. Which would suck. But then again, I have priorities in my life that supercede my desire to not be a pain in the butt.

The difficult thing to swallow is that this fellow is a fairly well respected Christian in this town. I guess it's a case of "Praise the Lord, but business is business."

Gee wiz, I hate that.

Hey Dewt.

If I recall when i did property management, it's next to IMPOSSIBLE to evict someone without a court order...and even then - in alot of cases you have to give 3 months notice.

Did you sign a lease?

Also - what conditions had they moved you on in - in canada it's hard to sue anyone sadly.

Where were you from orginally? i am way more familiar with Alberta tenant/landlord acts then ontario - although they are similar.

have you googled ontario landlord and tenant acts?

basically the part you are looking for says.

If a tenant fails to pay rent lawfully owing under a tenancy agreement, the landlord may give the tenant notice of termination of the tenancy effective not earlier than,

(a) the 7th day after the notice is given, in the case of a daily or weekly tenancy; and

(b) the 14th day after the notice is given, in all other cases. 1997, c. 24, s. 61 (1).

Contents of notice

(2) The notice of termination shall set out the amount of rent due and shall specify that the tenant may avoid the termination of the tenancy by paying, on or before the termination date specified in the notice, the rent due as set out in the notice and any additional rent that has become due under the tenancy agreement as at the date of payment by the tenant. 2000, c. 26, Sched. K, s. 6 (14).

Notice void if rent paid

(3) The notice of termination is void if, before the day the landlord applies to the Tribunal for an order terminating the tenancy and evicting the tenant based on the notice, the tenant pays,

(a) the rent that is in arrears under the tenancy agreement; and

(b) the additional rent that would have been due under the tenancy agreement as at the date of payment by the tenant had notice of termination not been given. 2000, c. 26, Sched. K, s. 6 (14).




Do you have an agreement you signed?

Dorry, thank you so much for your reply.

I do not have a lease or any signed agreement. Those clauses that you referred to were actually printed on the notice. I don't have to leave if I contest the notice.

Which I have every intention of doing.

I may not have a legal leg to stand on in terms of the eviction, but he did make a mistake on the arrears, all I need to do really is buy myself some time. I was planning on being out of here by sometime in May, hopefully going to Revelstoke, BC for the summer construction season.

I know it's hard to sue someone in Canada. I think I am going to try anyways. I'm sick and tired of being crapped upon. Unfortunately for this fellow, he is going to get all the aggravation that has been building in me for yeeeaaaarrss dumped right in his lap.

I'm also planning on contacting a spiritual elder in the community, which, according to Scripture, should be my next step. Dark things do not do well in the light, and I plan on shining as BIG a spotlight as I can on this situation.

EXPOSE EXPOSE EXPOSE!!!!

This isn't legal advice. You could skip over it if you wanted.

And still. No one is to blame.

And... Look more deeply at how and why you created this particular life situation for yourself. There are, I think, opportunities for you to learn.

Love ya, Dewt. Really do. Keep looking for the path.

All of us are responsible for our own decisions. Every decision has a consequence.

I have thought long and hard about how I have come to find myself in this particular situation and any and every other 'situation' I've found myself in. Heard a sermon this morning on 'sowing what you reap' that summed it all up perfectly.

My last post is hot-headed. Your advice may not have been legal, but it's good advice nontheless. I was not posting (or thinking) from anyplace even remotely close to something resembling the faintest outline of a core value.

But that's ok. 'Cause I've learned to chill and pray about things before I take any drastic action. It's working wonders. <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I will find a way to deal with this that's compassionate and in line with my spiritual beliefs.

At the same time, it's important for everyone (meaning: me, this guy and the world in general) to realize that the buck stops here.

Enough is enough.

Fortunately I don't have to have this all resolved and settled tonight.

I still need to chill and pray some more.

Oh, and Dorry, I checked out and book marked that link. Thanks again!

Dewt

I am in Grande Prairie, Alberta - and there is ALWAYS a job up here and always well paid - we are a booming industry town. Forestry, construction, oil, = they can't hire enough people - so bad that Tim hortons starts you at $13/hour! We moved up here for that very reason. We are an hour from the BC border (dawson creek)

Houses here - they can't build them fast enough - the only other city booming more than us is Fort MacMurray.

If you get to the point you are ready to move that far west - you are garunteed a job somewhere here....

Thanks for the heads up...

One of the reasons I'm looking West is the wages that I could earn as a carpenter. It would be really nice to get regular paychecks for a lotta money! That being said, I have a fair number of reasons for wanting to move out there that go beyond money.

The thing that gets me is that there's work here, too! The company just isn't signing any jobs. As far as I've seen, they are not really even trying. It's like the guy doesn't give a damn. That's what gets me sooooo riled up.