July 15, 2020

Doug Ford

Premier of Ontario
Legislative Building
Queen’s Park
Toronto ON M7A 1A1

Doug Downey                              Jamie West, MPP                                        Minister Steve Clark

Attorney General                     555 Barrydowne Rd. Suite 4                Municipal Affairs & Housing

[email protected]        Sudbury
P3A 3T4

RE:  Why is Mr. Ford neglecting residential landlords?

Dear Gentlemen:

The Greater Sudbury Landlord Association represents many landlords in the Greater Sudbury area of the north.  For months we have heard the concerns from tenants and landlords regarding the Landlord Tenant Board remaining closed with no opening date to be mentioned.  While our governing body remains closed landlords and tenants involved continue to suffer at the hands of unethical tenants.  We hear Mr. Ford addressing commercial landlords and tenants but what has he to offer to the residential side that carries the higher numbers of people involved.  We are asking Mr. Ford to address our suffering and we have offered suggestions below on how he can help.

1. Allow adjudicators to be hearing N4’s – Default in Paying rents over the telephone now.  Issue the hearing date and educate the tenants that they must pay their rent.  Allowing hearings now will unclog the LTB hearing dates to come.  Order the repayment plans and advise tenants that if they do not honour the payment plan then the next step will be an order to evict once the LTB opens.  No further hearings will be necessary.
2. Educate tenants to pay their rent now or struggle with payments later.  The outstanding rents will need to be paid sooner or later. Tenants on fixed incomes will struggle with payment plans and are destined to fail unless they are keeping up with current payments.
3. Educate landlords to provide a payment plan that works and is affordable to all.
4. Follow other province’s actions ie. BC and PEI.  Both are paying landlords directly to help with rents.
5. Allow ODSP and OW to change the payee to the landlord so their customers do not end up homeless when the LTB opens and payment plans are not feasible on a fixed income.

Failing to acknowledge and address the above issues will only lead to many more challenges in the near future for the communities and the province. Landlords will go bankrupt, tenants will be homeless and the LTB will be back logged for months and months to come.  Hear our plea Mr. Ford and help us.  We are also citizens of the this great province of Ontario.

Yours Truly,

Sherry Jordan, Sales Rep.

Property Manager

Vice-President – Greater Sudbury Landlord Association.

Cc:         Raymond Goulet

               President – Greater Sudbury Landlord Association