Toronto woman gets eviction notice after landlord tries to raise rent $200 per month

A Toronto tenant fears her landlord is trying to evict her in order to hike the rental fee associated with the unit she lives in.

When Lorelie Borromeo was told her rent was increasing by $200 a month, she knew her rent-controlled building wouldn’t permit the increase.

Not long after the landlord tried to raise her rent, she received an eviction notice (N12) saying she’d have to move out in order for her landlord’s family members to move in.

Borromeo was concerned that wasn’t true, and suspected that the landlord wanted her to move out so they could rent the unit to someone else at a higher price.

“I don't agree with this notice that your family is moving in and I would prefer to bring this in front of a court to decide the outcome,” Borromeo said, ultimately deciding to take her case to the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB).

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Borromeo said she did her homework before moving, and ensured she moved into a building built prior to 2018, meaning her landlord would have to abide by the provincial rent increase guideline – 1.2 per cent every twelve months. In her case, it meant the landlord could raise the rent $37 a month.

“When I was looking for a unit, I was looking for a rent controlled unit so I could avoid unexpected increases," she said.

About 1.6 million people rent in Ontario, and as the real estate market cools and interest rates go up, more people are looking to rent, in turn driving rental prices upward.

Geordie Dent, Executive Director at the Federation of Metro Tenants’ Associations, a group that advocates for renters, said some landlords are trying to evict tenants either by saying a family member needs the unit to live in, or that they need to renovate it – a term known as “renoviction.”

“This is extremely common right now in the city of Toronto. You are seeing a mass number of what we call fraudulent evictions," Dent said.

Dent said, within rent controlled buildings, a landlord can only raise the rent by the provincial guideline once per year. However, if the tenant moves out, they can increase rent between tenants however much they like.

“A lot of landlords are committing fraud right now and they are defrauding tenants,” Dent said. “There is a real incentive for them to do so, because if they can push you out, they can jack up the rent.”

Buildings in Ontario constructed after November 2018 are not covered by rent control, and they can be subject to increases higher than the 1.2 per cent guideline.

Earlier this year, CTV News Toronto interviewed a couple who were shocked when their rent was allowed to be increased by $500 a month because their building was not covered by rent controls.

As for Borromeo, she continues to pay her rent each month, and said she'll agree to whatever the LTB rules in her case.

“It's not just about the money, it's the principle of the thing. So, whatever the outcome is I’m happy to follow it, as long as everyone is following the rules,” she said.

Ontario’s Landlord Tenant Board still has a serious backlog with many hearings running months behind. Rents will continue to go up next year as the province has already approved its rent increase guideline for 2023 – 2.5 per cent.