Burton et al. v. Leadway Apartments Ltd., (2002) 165 O.A.C. 114 (DC)

• Judge: Farley, Then and Charbonneau, JJ.
• Court: Superior Court of Justice of Ontario (Canada)
• Case Date: June 28, 2002
• Jurisdiction: Ontario
• Citations: (2002), 165 O.A.C. 114 (DC)

Burton v. Leadway Apartments Ltd. (2002), 165 O.A.C. 114 (DC)

MLB headnote and full text

Temp. Cite: [2002] O.A.C. TBEd. AU.038

Scott Burton and all the Tenants of 1305 Wilson Avenue, Toronto, Ontario Listed in Schedule "A" to the Notice of Appeal (tenants/appellants) v. Leadway Apartments Ltd. (landlord/respondent)

(86/02)

Indexed As: Burton et al. v. Leadway Apartments Ltd.

Court of Ontario

Superior Court of Justice

Divisional Court

Farley, Then and Charbonneau, JJ.

August 26, 2002.

Summary:

Tenants appealed a decision of the Ontario Rental Housing Tribunal allowing a landlord's application for an above guideline rent increase.

The Ontario Divisional Court dismissed the appeal.

Trade Regulation - Topic 8512.1

Price and wage regulation - Rent controls - Rent increase - In excess of statutory limit - A landlord applied for an above guideline rent increase citing, inter alia, an extraordinary operating cost increase in utilities (Tenant Protection Act, s. 138(6)) - The cost of natural gas had increased 150% between the reference year and the base year - However, the cost declined significantly between the end of the base year and the hearing by the Rental Housing Tribunal - Sections 16 and 24 of Regulation 194/98 provided a formula using the base year and reference year - The Tribunal applied the formula and granted the landlord a 5.64% increase related to increased utilities costs - The tenants appealed, arguing that s. 188 of the Act authorized a departure from the formula to ensure fairness - Section 188 provided that "the Tribunal shall ascertain the real substance of all transactions and activities relating to a residential complex" - The Ontario Divisional Court dismissed the appeal - Section 188 did not give any substantive rights and did not permit a departure from the formula.

Trade Regulation - Topic 8512.2

Price and wage regulation - Rent controls - Rent increase - Considerations - [See Trade Regulation - Topic 8512.1 ].

Cases Noticed:

Residential Tenancies Act of Ontario, Re (1980), 26 O.R.(2d) 609 (C.A.), affd. [1981] 1 S.C.R. 714; 37 N.R. 158, refd to. [para. 10].

581355 Ontario Ltd. v. Tenants of 80 St. Clair Avenue East (1991), 49 O.A.C. 74 (Div. Ct.), refd to. [para. 11].

Parsons v. Twin Elm Estates, [2001] O.J. No. 1907 (Div. Ct.), refd to. [para. 12].

Friends of the Oldman River Society v. Canada (Minister of Transport and Minister of Fisheries and Oceans), [1992] 1 S.C.R. 3; 132 N.R. 321; 88 D.L.R.(4th) 1, refd to. [para. 13].

Reference Re Certain Titles to Land in Ontario (1973), 35 D.L.R.(3d) 10 (Ont. C.A.), refd to. [para. 14].

Triassic Holdings Ltd. v. Muirhead (1983), 40 O.R.(2d) 651 (Div. Ct.), refd to. [para. 15].

Statutes Noticed:

Tenant Protection Act, S.O. 1997, c. 24, sect. 188 [para. 4].

Authors and Works Noticed:

Ontario, Hansard, Standing Committee on General Government (August 19, 1996), p. 12 [para. 8].

Counsel:

Richard Fink, for the tenants;

Robert Doumani and T. Halinski, for the landlord.

This appeal was heard on June 28, 2002, by Farley, Then and Charbonneau, JJ., of the Ontario Divisional Court. On August 26, 2002, the court delivered the following decision.