Applications for personal use eviction are up 77% in Toronto, worrying advocates

Data shows the number of applications landlords have filed to evict tenants for personal use in 2023 so far has already surpassed the total number of applications in 2022.

In Ontario, landlords can use something called an N12 eviction notice to force tenants to move out of an apartment if the owner, a member of their immediate family, or a caregiver wants to move in. An N12 can also be issued for the same reasons by someone who's just bought a property.

From January through September 2023, 1,767 N12 evictions have been applied for in Toronto, according to data from the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB). That's well above the total applications made in 2022: 1,312.

N12 applications have increased 77per cent in 2023 so far based on a comparison of the first nine months of 2022 and 2023.

Tenants served with N12s face the prospect of eviction through no fault of their own, which can be a stressful experience, says jes sachse, who spells their name using lowercase letters.

sachse was served with an N12 in March 2022. They've spent more than a year fighting the eviction through the LTB, at the expense of their own work as an artist.

"I'm getting a little tired. I'm constantly considering doing a fundraiser to recover the income I've lost," sachsesaid.

sachse is disabled and is concerned about having to move from the apartment they've called home for more than a decade.

"I, ultimately, was nervous," they said, "having accessibility concerns, like, how possible would it be for me to find housing right away?"

Tenant advocates say N12s are a major issue in Toronto, because landlords could use them to drive up the price of their unit and renters have limited options to push back.The average cost of a one bedroom in Toronto is now $2,614, a 4.9 per cent increase from the previous year, according to the Rentals.ca September report.

With an N12, all a landlord needs to prove is that they, a family member, or caregiver, intends to move in, said Samuel Mason, a lawyer at Parkdale Community Legal Services, who is also representing sachse at the LTB.

N12 evictions are'pretty devastating,' lawyer says

Needing only toprove an intention makes the N12 one of the easiest ways landlords can evict a tenant, Mason said which landlords may find tempting as rental prices soar given they can raise the price on rent-controlled units between tenants.

Tenants can go to the LTB after they've been evicted if the landlord, their family member or caregiver doesn't move into the unit, he said.

"But even if they are successful someday, that doesn't get them back into their rent-controlled unit," he said.

In sachse's case, they're still in their place because they are trying to argue their circumstances are unique. According to Mason, the person trying to evict them purchased a five per cent ownership stake in the house and there is no precedent of someone with such a small ownership percentage using an N12.

Mason says he's seen an increase recently in people coming to the clinic for help after being served N12 notices. He believes there's been an increase in "bad faith" uses of the mechanism.

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The fact that N12s are not an indication the tenant has done anything wrong can be very frustrating, Mason said."These are tenants who work extremely hard to pay their rent, (and) are otherwise exemplary tenants," he said. "It's pretty devastating to people."

It's also disruptive, said Geordie Dent, executive director of the Federation of Metro Tenants Association.

"You don't know if you're going to win or not," he said. "You don't know when this is all going to be settled. And that tremendous pressure and stress causes a lot of people to just move."

Province says it's working to deter bad faith evictions

Mason wants to see the N12 evictions done away with completely. He says the fact that they're allowed demonstrates Canadian society's overvaluing of property owners and undervaluing of tenants.

"I think you give away the freedom to do what you want with the property when you put it on the market and rent it out to someone for them to build their home there," he said.

That idea doesn't sit right with Tony Irwin, president of the Federation of Rental-housing Providers of Ontario.

"We cannot sort of ignore the fact that someone who owns a property should be able to have certain rights to that property," he said.

Irwin says the federation wants tenants to have strong protections and for owners to have a fair way to access their properties.

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The province says it's working to protect tenants who are facing personal use evictions. Through a bill that passedin June, landlords who evict tenants through N12s will be required to have the new person move in by a certain deadline.

That bill will also double the maximum fines for bad faith evictions to $100,000, according to a provincial spokesperson.The LTBsaid it could not provide data on bad faith eviction fines prior to publication.

The bill passed but is not yet in force, according to the province's eLawswebsite. The governmentdid not respond to a request for clarification on when it may come into force.

Maximum finesare rarely given out by the LTB, Mason said, adding that whenever the law does come into force it won't make much of a difference.

"That doesn't address the issue of landlords misusing this type of eviction proceeding because the legal test is so permissive in the first place," he said.