The small, tidy Hamilton bungalow the place Verica Grgic as soon as raised her children is destroyed.
The hardwood flooring are coated with canine feces, with among the excrement rising mould within the kitchen. The lounge is strewn with belongings and rubbish, canine toys and a mangled cat stand. The entrance wall and window are sprayed and streaked with what appears like blood. A pungent ammonia-like odour permeates the house.
Grgic and her husband, Marinko Vrbanic, confirmed CBC Hamilton the state of their Stoney Creek home a day after they obtained permission from Ontario’s Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) to evict the tenant for not paying over $24,000 in lease.
It was an order Grgic had been making an attempt to get for a full yr. She served the tenant an N4 discover in early 2024, utilized to the LTB that March and was granted the eviction order in July, however then needed to wait till final week to lastly be allowed to alter the locks.
“I am not exaggerating — this was the worst yr of my life,” mentioned Grgic. “I’m so disgusted. I’d by no means imagine that is the actual system, however I discovered the truth.”
Grgic mentioned a contractor has decided the drywall, flooring and subflooring, and home equipment will all should be changed, partially to eliminate the odor, exceeding an estimated $100,000.
The tenant didn’t reply to a number of cellphone calls, texts, social media messages or emails to her personally or to her enterprise requesting a remark earlier than and after she was evicted final week. CBC Hamilton additionally reached out to the Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario (ACTO).
Douglas Kwan, ACTO’s advocacy and authorized providers director, mentioned typically talking, it is outdoors the norm for tenants to not pay lease. He declined to touch upon this particular case.
Earlier evictions of tenant discovered at LTB
For Grgic, 47, the expertise has value her greater than cash.
She immigrated to Canada from Croatia as a single mum or dad of two and labored lengthy hours as a private assist employee. She purchased the bungalow 14 years in the past on her personal. When she and Vrbanic, 59, obtained married final yr, they determined to reside in his place and lease out hers.
“It is really extra of a sentimental worth than cash,” he mentioned.
After the tenant utilized to lease it, her references checked out, Vrbanic mentioned, though they did not have a look at her credit score historical past or request the LTB present any previous selections involving her. She paid first and final month’s lease in November 2023. However from there, the scenario unravelled, lease went unpaid and Grgic mentioned she watched her house being “destroyed.”
Vrbanic later found on the web site Openroom — a crowdsourced on-line database of orders — that the tenant had been evicted in 2020 and 2022 from two different Hamilton houses for not paying lease. In every case, she owed the landlords greater than $15,000, in line with these LTB selections.
Small landlords across Ontario have instructed CBC Information lately they’ve fallen sufferer to tenants who know the best way to use the LTB to their benefit. Landlords say these tenants deliberately drag out proceedings for months whereas not paying lease and, in some circumstances, destroy property.
A landlord in Oshawa mentioned he wasn’t allowed to evict a tenant from his rental property for months even after a fire started inside it. One other landlord, in Ottawa, was left with holes in the walls, damaged lights and taps, a clogged bathroom and different points when a tenant, who did not pay lease for 11 months, was lastly evicted.
4 completely different landlords in and across the similar Ottawa suburb say they’ve fallen sufferer to the identical “skilled” tenants who’ve been dwelling principally rent-free for years. The owners say over 4 years, the couple racked up almost $100,000 in unpaid lease.
Grgic mentioned the “destruction” to her home may’ve been prevented if she’d been allowed to evict the tenant final summer season. She mentioned she’s talking out to warn different small landlords concerning the challenges within the system.
“No person cares,” she mentioned. “You are simply by yourself.”
Animal welfare investigation ongoing
Final August, the tenant efficiently requested the LTB overview the July eviction order as a result of she mentioned she did not know concerning the listening to, in line with the tribunal’s last resolution final week.
The board had despatched the listening to data to an e-mail for the authorized clinic serving to her with the case, however the tenant mentioned she did not obtain it, the choice mentioned.
A brand new listening to occurred in late October, however the tenant additionally did not attend, the choice mentioned. An eviction order was reissued for November. The tenant requested a overview of that one too, writing in a letter to the LTB she additionally hadn’t acquired that discover and he or she’d “definitely grow to be homeless” if evicted. The eviction order was stayed once more.
Grgic and Vrbanic mentioned they emailed the tenant the listening to data.
In the meantime, circumstances within the house have been quickly deteriorating, Grgic mentioned. They’d points getting access to do inspections as they feared getting attacked by three canine inside. Grgic mentioned the canine and a cat have been left alone within the house starting round September.
Neighbour Josie Sorbara may hear the canine “barking on a regular basis” and would see them pawing on the entrance window, the 86-year-old instructed CBC Hamilton. Grgic mentioned neighbours additionally reported a canine struggle to her and blood was smeared on the entrance window.
Then there was a flood.
A tenant dwelling within the basement unit notified Grgic as water started to pool within the ceiling.
Grgic and her husband entered the home with police, as captured in a video seen by CBC Hamilton. Animal Welfare Providers, a provincial company, quickly secured the canine so they may get inside, mentioned Grgic.
They discovered a pipe had been faraway from beneath the lavatory sink and the tap left on, inflicting water to seep into different rooms and the basement unit under, mentioned Vrbanic.
“All that poop and pee from the canine with the water combined and coming down by way of the ceiling, insulation, vents, lights — it was only a catastrophe,” mentioned Vrbanic.
The water and electrical energy needed to be shut off for security causes, he mentioned.
The basement tenant moved out after the flood, and Grgic regained possession of that unit in February, in line with a LTB eviction order.
The canine and cat continued to remain within the upstairs unit for one more week till animal providers took them away, she mentioned.
The Ministry of the Solicitor Basic, which enforces animal welfare legal guidelines within the province, mentioned that as of final week, the investigation is ongoing and it could be inappropriate to remark.
Expedited listening to request denied
Grgic tried to get an expedited listening to for the case in opposition to the primary flooring tenant in December, arguing with out possession of the house, she could not handle the flood harm, akin to mould and mildew.
That request was denied.
“If the unit is broken past restore, there isn’t any challenge within the unit that can grow to be irreparable; it’s already irreparable,” wrote adjudicator Renée Lang on Jan. 2.
The ultimate listening to occurred on March 18 and the tenant did not seem, the choice mentioned.
Grgic was allowed to alter the locks final week. She’s determined to not pursue damages in small claims courtroom as she’s uncertain she’d be repaid if she gained.
The couple mentioned their subsequent steps will likely be to intestine the home. Then they’re going to wait to see if their insurance coverage will cowl any of the repairs as their case is presently being reviewed. In any other case, they’re going to must renovate it step-by-step, like Grgic did when she first moved in.
Past that, they do not know if they’re going to ever lease it out once more except the LTB adjustments the way it handles eviction circumstances.
Size of LTB course of ‘inexcusable,’ says advocate
Tribunals Ontario, which oversees the LTB, didn’t touch upon this case particularly, however mentioned in an e-mail that over half the functions filed are to evict tenants accused of not paying lease.
Lately, the LTB has shortened the period of time it takes to get an order, mentioned spokesperson Veronica Spada. In 2023, landlords sometimes needed to wait eight to 10 months for a listening to, and now wait about three months, she mentioned.
That wait estimate does not keep in mind if a tenant requests a overview and a brand new listening to must happen, or how lengthy it takes for the adjudicators to challenge their orders.
The LTB course of nonetheless takes an “inexcusable” period of time, mentioned Kathy Laird, a lawyer with Tribunal Watch Ontario, a public curiosity group that screens the province’s tribunal system. Ready a yr, as Grgic did, is “not good, it isn’t good in any respect,” Laird mentioned.
Earlier than 2018, the LTB was capable of cope with eviction circumstances from begin to end inside two months, mentioned Laird, who’s labored as an adjudicator on a number of different Ontario tribunals. If a tenant missed a listening to, one other may very well be scheduled the subsequent day.
After the Doug Ford authorities took energy in 2018, skilled adjudicators left and “environment friendly” in-person hearings have been switched to digital hearings over the course of the pandemic, all of which slowed down the method, she mentioned.
“That is actually hurting landlords and in addition tenants.”
Laird famous 40 per cent of Ontario residents are tenants and the overwhelming majority pay their lease on time.
However the LTB ought to be capable of cope with egregious circumstances shortly so landlords can take possession, do repairs and discover new tenants who want housing as quickly as doable, Laird mentioned.
“The standard of service from the tribunal has deteriorated astoundingly. Nothing is working effectively.”
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