Eviction - A Terrifying Experience For Most People

Nothing frightens me more than the thought of being tossed out on the street because I cannot pay for shelter and that is why putting money aside for rent is my number one priority. I think most "small" landlords are in Catch 22 situation...it they don't get the rent money then they can't make the mortgage payments and now we have two parties out on the street. My sympathy for large developers is a little less but even they have people to whom they are responsible. I don't have an answer other than to suggest that governments at all levels need to look at there priorities and shelter and safety at home should top the list.

Eviction attempts at record level
March 5.

There is an ironic relationship between the ever-increasing volume of eviction applications and the legislation that makes it increasingly more difficult to obtain actual evictions:

The majority of eviction applications are to collect overdue rent.

Legislation has grown increasingly more permissive, making it possible for a tenant to avoid eviction by paying for the overdue rent at any time up to when the sheriff knocks at the door to evict them.

So how does this arrangement create evictions?

When finances are strained, tenants (like everyone else) prioritize expenses. If their credit card bill is not paid, they can't use it. If the car payment isn't paid, the vehicle with be repossessed within a couple of weeks.

But if the rent isn't paid, there's always another opportunity to make it up at some future point with few negative consequences, so not paying rent becomes last-resort bridge financing.

As more people fail to pay their rent, the number of eviction applications grow.

That backlogs the system as the number of hearings for those in arrears stacks up. Often tenants faced with the uncertainty of how the dispute will be resolved, stop paying rent once an application is filed.

By the time the hearing date arrives the overdue rent bill has become insurmountable, so moving somewhere else starts to look like a favourable alternative. On the other side of the equation, landlords faced with a longer and more arduous process are forced to trigger it earlier to secure their interests.

In a high-vacancy market, the eviction aspect of an application is a last-ditch alternative to the collection of rent.

Allistair Trent, Toronto