Can my landlord refuse to renew my lease?

[Laurabythelake]

I have lived in my current address for approx 6 years. In the past year, due to medical issues that kept me off work, I have been consistently late paying my rent. I am up-to-date, just late. The landlord has provided a warning letter and has now sent a notice stating that he will not renew my lease and asking me to move in 60 days time.

I have just received a letter from my dr stating that I am ok to return to full time work. I have a good job and am able to pay my rent. The notice states that the landlord can take me before the Board to evict me if I refuse to move. I don’t want to move - and I do now have the means to my rent on time.

I am otherwise an excellent tenant.

1. Does the landlord have the right to terminate my lease for consistently late rent?

2. Should I go before the Board and tell them my story? I can now pay my rent on time. Pls provide advice.

Laurabythelake

[SettlementOrgMod]

Hi Laurabythelake,

Thanks for sharing your question and situation with us. We can appreciate that this may be a stressful situation to be in.

From my understanding, you are renting a unit and have had some difficulty paying your rent on time due to some health and financial reasons and you’ve received an eviction notice.

You may find our article When can my landlord evict me? useful for some tips for ongoing issues with your landlord. Here is an excerpt:

Your landlord must have a legal reason to do so and it must be listed in the Residential Tenancies Act.

Your landlord can evict you for any one of the following reasons:

-You don’t pay your rent, or you frequently pay your rent late.
-You or your guest do something illegal in your unit or building.

-You cause excessive damage to the apartment or building.

-You or your guest unreasonably disturb the landlord or other tenants in the building.

-You have too many people living in the unit. In this case, “too many” means a number that is against health, safety or housing standards.

-You lied about your income when you applied to rent the unit.

-The owner or a member of the owner’s family wants to move into your apartment. In this case, “family” means spouse, child, parent, spouse’s child, spouse’s parent or a caregiver for any of them.

-The owner will destroy the building, make extensive repairs that require the unit to be empty, or change the unit so that it is no longer used as housing.

According to the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) the short answer to your question is yes, they do have the right to apply to the LTB to evict you for consistently paying your rent late. However, you also have the right to appeal the eviction notice:

Read the notice to see why and when the landlord is asking you to leave. You may want to:

-talk to the landlord about the notice and correct any problems, if possible.

-leave the unit.

-stay in the unit and see if the landlord files an application with the LTB. You will have a chance to explain the situation at a hearing.

You have the right to stay in your unit until the LTB issues an eviction order.

You can also check out the A Guide to the Residential Tenancies Act which includes information about evictions.

You may wish to contact the Landlord and Tenant Board to confrim this information and to ask more question about your personal situation.

The information provided above is not legal advice. If you want legal advice please consult a community legal clinic or a lawyer about your particular situation.

I hope this information is helpful. Please let us know if you have further questions and if there is any follow up to your question/situation.

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Theresa
Information & Referral Specialist, CIRS
Your Settlement.Org Team