In what very well might be a record for living rent free, a recent case (Nwabue v Rojas, 2016 ONSC 7754 [CanLII]) illustrates how a tenant was able to freeload for over 18 months despite agreeing to an order requiring him to vacate the unit.
The tenant stopped paying rent as of April 1, 2015. The landlord took steps to evict and on June 25, 2015, the landlord agreed to waive all rent arrears and fees owing by the tenant up to June 30, 2015 in exchange for the tenant agreeing to an order ending his tenancy and evicting him for non-payment of rent as of July 31, 2015.
The tenant refused to move out despite agreeing to do so. He then asked the Landlord and Tenant Board to review the order. The board declined to do so.
The tenant then filed for an appeal with the Divisional Court in September 2015. Despite repeated prodding by the landlord, the tenant failed to set his appeal down for a hearing.
In September 2016, the landlord booked a motion to quash the appeal. That motion was heard on Nov. 22. The tenant, who had not responded to any of the landlord’s correspondence for more than a year, did not show up at the motion. Nevertheless, instead of dismissing the appeal the motion judge ordered that the appeal be heard on Dec. 6.
On Nov. 23, the landlord served the motion judge’s endorsement and notice of the hearing date (Dec. 6).
On Dec.5 the tenant finally sprang into action. The tenant sent a fax to the landlord’s counsel objecting to the Dec. 6 hearing date on the basis that it conflicted with a graduate program exam he was taking at a university “almost a thousand km from Toronto” and also that he would have otherwise been unable to prepare for the appeal and travel to Toronto on such short notice.
The tenant did not attend on Dec. 6 and did not provide proof of his purported conflicting appointment, as directed by the court. The court proceeded in the tenant’s absence and dismissed the appeal for lack of merit; about 18 months after the tenant’s last rent payment was made.
The Sheriff was “directed to give vacant possession of the unit to the landlord immediately, or as soon as practicable.”
Matt Maurer is an accomplished trial and appellate lawyer with nearly a decade of experience advocating on behalf of his clients. He is a regular contributor to print and online media publications on issues pertaining to real estate disputes and issues affecting the practice of law and access to justice. He is with Minden Gross LLP in Toronto. Contact him by email or call 416-369-4322.
