Court clears way for tenants’ return to Sarnia building

A divisional court decision has cleared the way for 14 tenants of a Sarnia apartment building damaged by a February fire to return to their units, says Community Legal Assistance Sarnia (CLAS).

The legal clinic said the court decision was released this week after a hearing Friday.

Mississauga-based Equity Builders had appealed an Ontario Landlord and Tenant Board order to immediately give 14 tenants access to their units in the apartment building at 721 Earlscourt Dr.

The May 5 board order found, on a balance of probabilities, the 14 tenants were illegally locked out.

The landlord’s appeal of that order was quashed by the divisional court, the legal clinic said.

“In effect, the order of the Landlord and Tenant Board restoring the tenancy is back in force and the sheriff can certainly act on it, and we’ve asked them to,” said Andrew Bolter, CLAS’s executive director.

Melissa Bradley, a clinic paralegal, said it has contacted the Sarnia Court enforcement officer (sheriff) and is waiting for a date to begin the process of ensuring the 14 tenants are able to return to their units.

“It should take about seven days for the tenants to be back,” she said.

In the meantime, the landlord has been asked to reinstate the tenants to avoid action by the court enforcement officer, the clinic said.

“The purpose of the Residential Tenancies Act (RTA) is to protect tenants from unlawful evictions,” Bolter said. “Unfortunately, we are seeing more abuse generally by some landlords because they can often double the rent when a tenant leaves.”

In the recent court ruling, Justice AK Mitchell said, “I find the landlord’s conduct is subversive to the processes enacted under the RTA for the protection of tenants, and brings the administration of justice into disrepute.”

The ruling goes on to say, “I further find the landlord’s appeal of the order is an abuse of process and was intended to delay proceedings before the board and delay the tenants’ return to their residential units.”

Some of the 14 tenants “are doing OK,” Bradley said. “Others are still struggling quite a bit.”

Some have been staying with “friends, family, shelters,” since they were not allowed to return to their apartments following the fire, she said.

“This has been hugely disruptive to the lives and well-being of the locked out tenants at Earlscourt who have been homeless for nearly six months,” Bradley said.

A representative of Equity Builders said previously the company disagrees with the Landlord and Tenant Board decision, and that the tenants were being kept out for safety reasons.

Equity Builders did not respond to a request for comment about the divisional court ruling.

“We’re just hoping the landlord follows the rules and the Residential Tenancies Act, which they are required to follow,” Bolter said.

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