Did you move out of your home because your landlord ‘needed’ it for personal use only to discover they never followed through with it? This article will outline the steps to take to get compensation for your inconvenience and how to prove the difficulties endured.
This situation arose because the landlord gave you a notice to end your tenancy for personal use. You relied on that notice and moved out. Where the notice was technically invalid, i.e., not on a proper Form N12, it can still be a “notice of termination”.
To get compensation for your wrongful eviction, file a T5 Application (Landlord gave me a Notice of Termination in Bad Faith) with the Ontario Landlord and Tenant Board. Being given a notice of termination in bad faith means that your landlord gave you the notice to terminate the tenancy and did not adhere to the requirements of the Notice, such as residing in the rental unit for at least one year after you move out.
The Landlord and Tenant Board is an administrative board that helps resolve disputes between landlords and tenants. The T5 Application will allow you to explain why you think your former landlord acted in bad faith.
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You have one year from the date you moved out to file the T5 Application.
You will need to calculate the compensation you are seeking from your former landlord. You would be entitled to:
- The difference in rent for up to 1 year, if you are paying a higher rent than before;
- General compensation worth up to 1 year of your old rent;
- Compensation for moving, storage, and other expenses incurred while moving from the unit;
- An abatement of rent;
- The landlord could also face an administrative fine of up to $50,000.
An example of calculating rental compensation is where the unit you moved out of charged rent of $1,500 per month and the unit you moved into charges rent of $2,000 per month. As you are paying $500 more in rent each month, you can claim this amount for up to one year which would be $6,000.
If you are paying less in rent compared the unit you moved from or if you are no longer renting, then you will not be compensated for the difference in rent. However, you may be entitled to general compensation.
General damages may be awarded, for example, where a child lost paper route income, or there were increased travel costs to drive children to school. The psychological impact of the eviction is also considered. There are other ways to be awarded general damages which would be determined on a case-by-case basis.
To be entitled to compensation you will need to prove that your former landlord acted in bad faith. If you show any of the following:
- Your former landlord advertised your old unit for rent;
- Your former landlord rented the unit to someone else;
- Your former landlord sold or listed the unit;
- Your former landlord demolished the unit;
- Your former landlord converted the unit to some other use than residential.
the presumption will be that your former landlord gave you the notice to end the tenancy for personal use in bad faith. The onus will then be on the landlord to prove otherwise.
Some good resources to help you complete your wrongful eviction application are the Residential Tenancies Act and the Ontario Landlord and Tenant Board’s Rules and Guidelines.
If you would like to know if you may have been wrongfully evicted, one of the lawyers at Malicki Sanchez will gladly assist you.
