“Administrative Justice Delayed, Fairness Denied” - Ombudsman's Investigation into the Landlord and Tenant Board

May 7, 2023

Ontario's Ombudsman came out with a scathing report regarding the state of the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) and it confirms what most of us doing work in this area already know, that it is extremely broken. Delays and backlogs have resulted in applications not being heard for up to two years. Orders are now taking months to get issued. And it seems like it is only going to get worse. ^[1]

Read about it here: Ontario's Landlord and Tenant Board 'fundamentally failing,' ombudsman finds

Some of the highlights: ^[2]

• A backlog of over 38,000 applications
• 3 months to enter an application into the system
• 6-9 months average time to schedule landlord applications
• Up to 2 years to schedule tenant applications
• Increase of almost 4,000 complaints to the Ombudsman

I can attest to the hardships that these delays have caused. I know of tenants that have been dealing with persistent pest issues for over 15 months now and when they finally get a hearing, it gets adjourned for another 6 months because the LTB did not schedule enough time.

I also know of landlords who have had to deal with abusive tenants who have literally been squatting in their basements for months now not paying rent. They have no recourse because any eviction action requires a hearing at the LTB. These are small, honest landlords who are now losing thousands of dollars.

Unfortunately, there will be also be landlords and tenants who will try to take advantage of this mess. We will definitely be hearing more stories of landlords who will delay maintenance for as long as possible if they know tenants won't be able to get a expeditious hearing. We will also have tenants who will try to extend their leases rent free for months because they know landlords won't be able to kick them out.

Even if dozens of new adjudicators are appointed in the coming months, it will still take at least several more years to get through the backlog. As housing costs become more expensive, and rents continuing to soar, a functioning LTB must be a priority for the Ontario government.

[1] https://www.ombudsman.on.ca/resources/reports,-cases-and-submissions/reports-on-investigations/2023/administrative-justice-delayed,-fairness-denied
[2] https://www.ombudsman.on.ca/Media/ombudsman/ombudsman/resources/Reports-on-Investigations/LTB-Highlights-accessible.pdf