Denise Browne almost faced eviction after police removed her husband for domestic violence from the unit they had rented and lived in for 13 years. When he was removed by police, he gave the landlord notice to end his responsibility for rent payments but didn’t intend to force his wife to leave. Unfortunately, only his name was on the lease, so the landlord sought to have Ms Browne and her two children evicted, claiming she wasn’t legally a tenant entitled to live there. Or she could pay what the rent would be for a new tenant—more than twice what the family had been paying. (The gutting of Ontario’s rent control – specifically “vacancy decontrol” – gives landlords the power to hike rents by any amount whenever there is a change in tenancy.) A Landlord and Tenant Board adjudicator ruled against evicting Ms Browne and her children, but the case was reviewed, twice, and other board adjudicators supported eviction.
Ms Browne was fortunate to have legal representation—cutbacks in funding for Ontario’s community legal clinics has reduced access for many tenants—and she appealed the case to Ontario’s Divisional Court. (She was represented by two lawyers from the Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario.)
Last month, Ontario’s divisional court ruled that she was indeed a tenant in the unit and could stay, at the old rent.
That’s great news for all those who could potentially face eviction when a relationship ends, for whatever reason. The court ruled, among other things, that a tenant cannot automatically end their spouse’s tenancy by serving a notice to terminate after leaving when their spouse is still living in the home. And it held that the prejudice of losing one’s home of 13 years is far greater than the potential “prejudice” to landlords deprived of the opportunity to dramatically double the rent. You can read more here: https://www.acto.ca/major-legal-victory-at-the-divisional-court-for-survivor-tenant/?mc_cid=9ccfc02957&mc_eid=0755b8cc18