The Legal Clinic of Guelph and Wellington County is urging tenants to seek legal advice and know their rights as concerns around evictions rise.
“We want people to feel empowered and not intimidated,” said Anthea Millikin, lawyer and executive director of Legal Clinic of Guelph and Wellington County who is seeing an increase in the number of people contacting the clinic out of fear of eviction.
The provincial moratorium on enforcement of eviction orders lifted this week which is when sheriffs began sending tenants notices about changing locks.
With the parameters of eviction orders not being clear to most people, Millikin said it’s important for tenants to understand what steps to take.
With the Landlord and Tenant Board back up, sheriff letters sent out to change locks, and the recent moratorium on evictions lifted, Millikin said her top concern is that people don’t realize if they are even at the risk of eviction as things rapidly change.
Millikin said people don’t always know that they have an eviction order until the sheriff's letter with the red seal comes in the mail.
“We’ve seen this with people where they don’t always know they have an eviction order,” said Millikin adding that the underlying concern is that tenants may have nowhere to go if evicted.
With thousands of hearings scheduled at the Landlord and Tenant Board which opened on Aug. 4, Millikin said more eviction orders are on the horizon.
She said tenants need to understand that with the recent changes to the Residential Tenancies Act, a landlord and a tenant can enter into a repayment arrangement without going to the board. These agreements can become orders.
“So what we’re saying is if you’re a tenant and you’re approached by your landlord to sign an agreement, you should get some legal advice so you could talk about what the consequences are,” said Millikin.
“We want you to understand that if you want to enter a repayment arrangement, that’s great, we want you to understand what the consequences are and what could happen if you breach and what happens if you breach and get an eviction order.”
She said people are frightened about losing their home and may feel intimidated to agree to an agreement that is not sustainable for them.
“Certainly don’t feel pressure to enter an agreement that you’re not 100 per cent sure you can comply with because the risk is so high that you’ll be evicted much more quickly,” said Millikin.
She said those unhappy with their repayment agreement should wait so they can ask an adjudicator for more time to explain their economic circumstances.
“If they went to a hearing, they could ask the adjudicator for that longer period of repayment,” said Millikin.
She said with economic hardship, unemployment and growing concerns about students returning to school in September, there’s going to be a lot of people at risk of losing their homes. And with factors such as the changing real estate market and rent increase for vacant apartments, this a very serious time for tenants.
“We had a problem with affordable units in the community before, this is obviously going to be a problem on a magnitude that we have never experienced before,” said Millikin.
“It’s not healthy for a community to have people homeless during a pandemic.”
The Legal Clinic of Guelph and Wellington County is continuing to offer services remotely on the phone and by email and is urging local residents to contact the clinic so they can talk about their specific situation.
“We’re very responsive to phone calls and emails, we talk people through their situations and we’re free. We help all tenants in Guelph and Wellington County so we won’t ask you about your income, we help all tenants, we give them advice,” said Millikin.
