This petition is meant to raise awareness about gaps in policy and advocate for landlords who are being abused by tenants who know how to navigate the gaps in the political and legal system. This is not aimed at those tenants who are responsible and respectful of the home they live in.

1)  Many tenants abuse the system and cause emotional and financial stress on landlords because the Canadian Governments policies allow these tenants to sit in homes without paying rent until a hearing date with the Landlord Tenant board which can take months and even years.  Tenants who do not pay rent should be made to pay what they owe. without having to wait months on end. If tenants don't pay rent for more than 2 months they should receive an automatic eviction which should be enforced by the law.  Landlords should not have to be at the mercy of LTB court hearings which take months and years on end leaving landlords financially, emotionally and physically devastated!

2) In Durham, when a property is rented out and utilities are the responsibility of the tenants in the lease, the water billing system in Durham does not change the name of the payee to the tenants name.  It remains under the name of the landlord and the tenant is supposed to pay the water bill amount to the landlord so that the payment can be made on behalf of the tenant.  The Utilities should all be under the name of the tenant while they have a signed lease and are renting a property just like the other utility bills.  Tenants should be held accountable for not paying utilities when they have signed a lease.  The landlord should not be the one responsible for this.

3) If tenants break bylaws due to loud noises or mess outside the home tenants can get away with this while landlords are held accountable for the tenants breaking bylaws.  The victims (landlords) are being prosecuted for a crime they did not commit.  Tenants should be the ones responsible for any bylaws being broken by them and not the landlord.

If tenants are not held accountable they will continue abusing the system and the problem will continue to grow with tenants not paying rent and destroying homes.  This will continue to put the health and financial situation of landlords at risk.  Additionally potential homes that could be put up for rent to honest, responsible tenants will not be as landlords are afraid of getting caught in the cycle with policies that support tenants in abusing the system  continuing the vicious cycle of housing shortages.

We want more justice for landlords who work hard and abide by the laws.  Tenants who abuse the system should have policies that hold them accountable for their actions to prevent this injustice in the system from snowballing.

The housing crisis will continue getting worse with not enough supply of housing for responsible tenants because landlords don't have faith in the legal and political system.  Additionally more and more landlords will become homeless and financially devastated unless the government steps in and fixes this broken political system.

The government needs to review and redraft their policies and prevent abuse of landlords and the rental system by tenants who take advantage of the gap in the system.