Terminating Tenancies: Fault Grounds

• Author: John Dickie/David Lyman
• Pages: 89-125

89

9

Terminating Tenancies:

Fault Grounds

Learning Outcomes

After reading this chapter, you will be able to:

• Identify various grounds for which landlords can

terminate tenancies before the end of their

normal term

• State the time limits for terminating tenancies for

various reasons

• Explain how to fill out notices of termination

• Explain why it is important to check a landlord’s

notice of termination as soon as you are retained

• Describe how to choose what termination ground

to use

• Identify and explain how to use the four ways in

which a tenant can defend an application to

terminate based on non-payment of rent

• Distinguish between non-payment of rent and

persistent late payment of rent

• Identify and describe how to use the ways in which a

tenant can defend an application to terminate based

on damage, interference, or overcrowding

• Identify the other notices and applications for

terminating a tenancy during its term

Grounds for Terminating Tenancies ....... 90

Consequence of Issuing a Notice of

Termination and Deciding Whether to

Issue One .......................... 92

Terminating a Tenancy for Non-Payment of

Rent(Form N4) ..................... 97

Defending a Notice to Terminate for

Non-Payment of Rent ............... 103

Non-Payment of Rent Versus Persistent

Late Payment of Rent ............... 108

Terminating a Tenancy for Damage,

Interference, or Overcrowding

(Form N5) .......................... 109

Defending a Notice to Terminate for

Damage, Interference, or

Overcrowding ...................... 113

Terminating a Tenancy for an Illegal Act or

Misrepresentation of Income

(Form N6) .......................... 116

Terminating a Tenancy Early for Impaired

Safety, Wilful Damage, or Serious

Interference with Resident Landlord’s

Reasonable Enjoyment (Form N7). . . . . 120

Defending a Notice to Terminate for an

Illegal Act, Impaired Safety, Wilful

Damage (Section 62), or Interference

with the Reasonable Enjoyment of

Landlords in Their Homes ............ 123

Steps to Take After Completing the

Notice of Termination ............... 123

Key Terms ............................. 125

Review Questions ...................... 125

Discussion Issues ....................... 125

© [2022] Emond Montgomery Publications. All Rights Reserved.

90 WORKING WITH THE RESIDENTIAL TENANCIES ACT

This chapter deals with the grounds on which landlords can terminate tenancies before

the end of the term and the notices that landlords must give in order to do so. As you

will see below, a landlord needs a specific reason to terminate a tenancy, and it must

be one of the grounds listed in the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006.1 In order to ter-

minate a tenancy before the end of the term, the landlord needs to have what is called

a “fault ground.” In other words, the tenant must have committed some fault. Exam-

ples of faults include not paying the rent, damaging the rental unit, and disturbing

other tenants. By far the most common fault is not paying the rent when it is due.

Non-fault grounds are discussed in Chapter 10. Also covered in Chapter 10 is one fault

ground that can be used only at the end of the term of the tenancy—namely, persis-

tent late payment of the rent.

Grounds for Terminating Tenancies

In Ontario, residential tenants have “security of tenure”; this means that to evict a

tenant, a landlord needs to have one of the reasons specified in the RTA (see ss37(1),

38, 39). The landlord cannot end a tenancy or evict a tenant merely because the tenant

has not complied with the tenancy agreement. Although a particular breach of the

agreement may also be a reason specified in the RTA, it is the fact that the tenant’s

conduct falls within the statutory list of reasons that allows the landlord to terminate

the tenancy. Table 9.1 sets out the grounds for early termination under the RTA.

The RTA allows a tenant to remedy some of the breaches—namely, causing undue

damage, interference with the reasonable enjoyment of the property by the landlord

or other tenants, and overcrowding. The remedies are for the tenant to pay for or to

make the repair, to cease the interference, or to eliminate the overcrowding. If the

1 SO 2006, c 17 [RTA].

TABLE 9.1 Grounds for Early Termination

Description RTA Section

Non-payment of rent s59

Misrepresenting income in public housing s60

Committing an illegal act or carrying on an illegal business s61

Causing undue damage s62

Causing wilful damage s63

Interfering with the reasonable enjoyment of the complex by the land-

lord or other tenants

s64

Impairing the safety of any person s66

Permitting overcrowding contrary to health, safety, or housing stan-

dards required by law

s67

© [2022] Emond Montgomery Publications. All Rights Reserved.

CHAPTER 9 TERMINATING TENANCIES: FAULT GROUNDS 91

tenant remedies the breach within seven days of receiving the notice, the landlord

cannot proceed with an eviction. By repairing the damage, stopping the interference,

or removing the people who created the overcrowding situation, the tenancy is

restored to good standing. However, if the tenant commits another breach within six

months, the tenant does not have the right to avoid termination by remedying the

second breach, and there is a shorter notice period. The second breach may be any

breach that can result in termination (other than failure to pay rent, which is dealt with

separately); the second breach does not need to be the same as the first breach.

For example, consider a tenant who likes to play their stereo loudly late at night.

The landlord serves a notice of termination on the grounds that the tenant has sub-

stantially interfered with the reasonable enjoyment of their rental units by other ten-

ants. The tenant stops playing the stereo too loudly. The landlord cannot then proceed

with termination of the tenancy. If, five months later, the tenant accidentally breaks

the glass of the main entrance door to the building, this undue damage constitutes a

second breach of the RTA within six months of the first breach. The landlord can give

a notice of termination effective in 14 days, and the tenant does not have the right to

avoid the termination by paying for the repair of the door. (As we will see in the section

on seeking s 83 relief [relief from forfeiture], the tenant may be able to maintain the

tenancy if the Landlord and Tenant Board decides to exercise its discretion in the ten-

ant’s favour. Therefore, a landlord may just insist on payment for the repair of the glass

and not proceed with a termination application.)

In this example, a landlord who has served a notice of termination on the tenant after

the first breach is in a better position to evict the tenant than a landlord who has not

served notice after the first breach. A breach is considered a second breach only if notice

of termination was given for the first breach. Therefore, if a tenant commits a significant

breach, and the landlord wants to maintain all of their rights, the landlord should not

merely give the tenant a warning, but give the tenant a notice of termination, using the

approved form. By giving the first notice of termination, a landlord’s rights to proceed

with the termination are enhanced if the tenant commits a further breach.

Time Limits

For all the fault grounds of termination, the landlord must give a notice of termination

within a reasonable period of time after the breach. Usually, the landlord will want to

give the notice immediately after finding out about the breach. Often landlords find

out about breaches because of complaints from other tenants. After receiving a com-

plaint, it is good practice for the landlord to make some inquiries to see whether the

complaint is valid. In the stereo example, one way to check is to ask tenants other than

the one who complained if they also heard loud music, when, and from what apart-

ment. If a complaint appears to be valid, the landlord should give a notice of

termination.

The tenant may choose to stop the objectionable behaviour after receiving the

notice of termination. For first breaches that involve causing undue damage, interfer-

ing with reasonable enjoyment, or permitting overcrowding, the landlord cannot

proceed once the tenant has remedied the problem. For committing illegal acts, mis-

representing income (in public housing), impairing safety, or wilfully causing damage,

the tenant will not be able to reinstate the tenancy as of right by remedying the

breach, and the landlord can proceed to apply for eviction.

© [2022] Emond Montgomery Publications. All Rights Reserved.