An eviction ban is not a viable strategy or end game to reduce the number of people in need of affordable housing.
That was the central message from a small group of landlords protesting outside Simcoe North MPP Jill Dunlop’s Midland constituency office Friday as part of a province-wide action co-ordinated by Ontario Landlords Watch (OLW).
Lisa Fox said an eviction ban would hurt smaller landlords like her.
“Enough is enough," said Fox, who owns a four-plex. "This is a province-wide, friendly protest to voice small landlords’ frustrations, challenges and living nightmares due to being forced to house non-paying, squatting, irresponsible, disrespectful, threatening tenants without any support from anyone.”
Fox said she is waiting to be heard at the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) for non-paying tenants, who are currently $14,000 in arrears.
"The main reason for this protest is to speak louder against the NDP, who are calling on (Premier) Doug Ford to immediately sign the moratorium on evictions,” she said. “If he signs, this issue will be catastrophic for all. Many will lose their homes, both tenants and landlords.”
And while the Midland protest was small in numbers, Fox said it’s important to raise awareness of the issue, noting they also have a petition circulating to show the province how much of a negative impact the moratorium on evictions will have on small landlords.
They want the province to work with an OLW steering committee to find effective solutions to help good landlords and good tenants while developing a more efficient delivery system of rent directly to landlords and create a recovery plan to address the rental crisis.
Fox, who works as a realtor, said the group also wants the province to “amend contradicting policies and processes" within the Residential Tenancies Act and LTB to reduce barriers in the rental industry.
“Moratorium on evictions are short-term solutions that only push forward the need to pay rent,” she said. “They will not only hurt Ontario's small landlords, but signal lenders and future rental providers that rental units are risky business, (thereby) reducing even further the number of available and affordable rentals.”
Fox said small landlords need to be recognized as a business and should not be used as collateral damage because of the government’s “long-standing mismanagement” of the housing market.
“At the end of the day, small landlords are in crisis,” she said. “People need to know that small landlords are running an essential business and without any support many will fail by losing their properties due to not being able to make payments. And with the excessive damage and criminal activity, it may be too much for some to mentally handle.”
