4. Show your landlord did not prove a reason to evict you
Question & Answer
What if my landlord wants to evict me for disturbing others?The LTB should not you just because someone didn't like something you did. Your landlord must show that what happened fits the wording of the law. Here are some questions to think about.
Was it a serious disturbance?
The law says you can be evicted for “substantial” interference with the “reasonable” enjoyment of other tenants or your landlord.
This means the LTB should not evict someone for minor annoyances, or for noise related to reasonable everyday living.
In previous cases, the LTB has ruled that sounds like normal conversation, normal children's noise, television, and people walking, are not “substantial interference”. But minor annoyances can become serious if they go on for long periods of time.
Did it happen more than a few times?
You can argue that you should not be evicted if the complaint is about something that happened only once or twice – for example, having a loud party one time. But, if a tenant regularly has loud , this could be “substantial interference”.
Who is being disturbed?
The law says it must be the landlord or other tenants of the same building or complex who are being disturbed. The LTB should not evict you if the complaints are from other people, such as neighbours who don't rent from your landlord.
Who caused the problem?
You can be evicted because of something that was done by a person living with you or someone that you allowed to be on the property. So think about whether the person was there with your permission when they caused the problem.
Was the behaviour the result of a disability?
When sounds or other disturbing behaviour are the result of or illness, they are not usually good enough reasons to evict someone. The LTB must consider and apply human rights law. This means making allowances for people's disabilities.
