Ontario Rental Housing Tribunal (ORHT)

MEDIA RELEASE
- for immediate release -

TENANTS HIT WITH 165% INCREASE
IN TRIBUNAL FEES

ONTARIO - June 10, 2002

The Ontario Rental Housing Tribunal (ORHT) today raised eviction application fees from $60 to $150. The Tribunal, the administrative body that adjudicates landlord and tenant disputes, processes over 60,000 eviction applications each year.

"While landlords pay the initial fee, tenants are ultimately forced to pay that money on top of any arrears owing if they wish to keep their homes," says Marcia Barry of the Federation of Metro Tenants Associations. "Hundreds of thousands of Ontario families are struggling to keep a roof over their heads and have very little room to manoeuvre."

Other fee increases include a charge of $1.00 per page (up from .50 cents) for providing copies of documents. For tenants who wish to view and challenge a landlord's above-guideline rent increase application, the charges could be in the hundreds of dollars.

"We know that over fifty percent of tenant households are being threatened with eviction for arrears of rent under $800," says Mary Roufail of the Centre for Equality Rights in Accommodation. "Forcing them to pay another $150 could mean the difference between paying the rent or losing their home."

"The Government is asking tenants to pay dearly for the privilege of being evicted by the Tribunal," says Kathy Laird, Director of Legal Services at the Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario (ACTO).

-30-

For more information:

Marcia Barry, Federation of Metro Tenants' Associations (FMTA) 416-413-9442
Mary Roufail, Centre for Equality Rights in Accommodation (CERA) 416-944-0087 Ext 27
Kathy Laird, Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario (ACTO) 416-597-5855 Ext 5242

Go To Top

Back to DAWN Ontario homepage

This page was created/updated on June 10, 2002