SOLO Update to MPPs: Issue #9
Every few weeks, SOLO sends landlord stories to Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs) to raise awareness of issues in the residential housing system in Ontario, and to advocate for change.
Here’s What’s Happening Now
Every day, your constituents face hardship and injustices within the residential housing system in Ontario. Their stories highlight the urgent need for reform and targeted solutions to protect Ontario tenants and landlords alike.
Evicted tenants in Richmond Hill caused $300,000 in damage before moving out, then filing for bankruptcy
(MPP Michael Parsa)
Kathy Liu, a single mother, rented her sole investment property to tenants who fell behind in rent payments from Nov. 2023, and stopped paying rent in Mar. 2024. She filed with the LTB and after over a year, she received an eviction order for Feb. 2025.
On the day before eviction, the tenants emailed a video stating the house had been flooded. Kathy was shocked to discover the home had suffered catastrophic water damage, from the second floor down to the basement. She immediately hired a plumber and contacted her insurance.
Further investigation showed the tenants had cancelled the electricity and moved out since October 2024, and the video had been taken in January 2025. The water damage resulted in over $300,000 in estimated losses, and full reconstruction is ongoing, claimed from her own insurance.
The tenants had withheld mail, misled the LTB court, and pretended they still occupied the home. They changed their surname and filed for bankruptcy making it impossible for Kathy to recoup any costs. She also visited the York Region police who said her case was a civil issue.
Kathy has personally suffered extreme mental and financial stress, covering emergency repairs, child care costs, unpaid utilities, and missed rental payments of over $80,000.
Kathy says: “I have experienced severe emotional trauma, stress, and sleep loss, and this has also affected my physical health.”
MPP Michael Parsa, can you help?
Etobicoke resident and accidental landlord still waiting to evict tenants with over $31,000 in arrears
(MPP Lee Fairclough)
Sadaf S., a small business owner in Etobicoke, decided to earn extra income by renting the ground-level suite of her home on Airbnb. What started as a one-day stay in Jul. 2024 became months when her tenants refused to leave, and the police wouldn’t remove them.
In Dec. 2024, the tenants stopped paying the full rent, but as they had not signed a lease, there was nothing Sadaf could legally do. Finally, in May 2025, the situation was formally recognized as a tenancy by the LTB and Sadaf was able to file for an eviction for non-payment of rent in Jun. 2025.
The hearing took place in Sep. 2025. While the adjudicator acknowledged the arrears, the hearing was adjourned due to other matters filed by the tenants.
Through all this, the tenants harassed her, changed locks, installed cameras without permission, and denied Sadaf entry to the property. They also filed 4,000 pages of evidence against her, including documents manipulated by AI.
Sadaf says, “I’ve never experienced anything like this in my life. How can people who don’t pay rent for almost a year be allowed to stay? I’m not a large corporation. I’m just a regular person who is now under serious financial, emotional and mental stress. Please help.”
MPP Lee Fairclough, can you help?
Niagara-on-the-Lake tenants over $25,000 in arrears after almost one full year of not paying rent
(MPP Jennifer Stevens and MPP Wayne Gates)
In 2021, St. Catherines resident, Saqib Khattak, rented his Niagara-on-the-Lake property to low income tenants and their four children at $400 below market rate.
In Jan. 2025, the tenants decided to stop paying rent, accumulating over $25,000 in arrears for rent and utilities. Despite offering a payment plan, Saqib received no response and filed an N4 eviction for non-payment of rent. However, he made a small error in the application and had to start over.
Saqib also filed an eviction for persistently late payment of rent, but this was dismissed by the LTB because he had an N4 filed.
Finally, a hearing on Sep. 9 resulted in an eviction date on Nov. 3., but with wait times for the Sheriff, the tenants will have lived without paying rent in his property for almost one full year.
Saqib says: “It’s heart-breaking. I did my best to help a family in need and even gave them $1,500 to pay for food over the years. Now I’m in debt and need to wait one year to get back my home. Is this fair to small landlords like me?”
MPP Stevens and MPP Gates, please help.
A Call to Action
Over the past five years, Small Ownership Landlords of Ontario (SOLO) has been supporting our more than 8,500 small-scale housing providers—our members—to navigate the residential housing system in Ontario.
Since 2020, we have seen the residential housing system break-down, with long delays at the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) creating the rise of “professional tenants” and related online groups, creating an unfair system for small landlords—all of whom are small business owners—who provide over 30% of rental housing in Ontario.
The Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) has a backlog of 53,000 cases according to the latest LTB report. 60% of LTB cases are regarding rental arrears.
We are calling for your support to streamline the process for uncontested cases of non-payment of rent. Specifically, we propose handling these cases administratively, without requiring a full hearing—similar to systems already in place in British Columbia, New Brunswick, Quebec, and Saskatchewan. This would significantly reduce the backlog at the LTB, and contribute to a fairer residential housing system for tenants and landlords in Ontario.
Please contact us if you would like to continue the conversation, or sign-up for our newsletter at https://news.solo.ca.
Sincerely,
solo@solo.ca
(647) 792-4951
www.solo.ca
