Eviction-dodging tenant leaves family paying rent in Toronto and mortgage in London, Ont.

A family stuck paying rent in Toronto and a mortgage in London says they’ve done everything right to get their London tenants to move out, but the system is letting them down.

“I think the system is rewarding bad behaviour, and this tenant is taking advantage of the system,” explains London townhouse owner Jeremy Awori. “It is not right. It is not right at all. We worked hard to get this property.”

Awori lives with his wife and two children in Toronto. They’ve been trying desperately to move to London into the townhouse they own at 1010 Fanshawe Park Road East.

But, he says the tenant won’t budge.

CTV News London reporter Bryan Bicknell knocks on the door of the Fanshawe Park Road East townhouse in London, Ont. in an attempt to speak to the tenants who allegedly have stopped paying rent and will not move out. (Bryan Bicknell/CTV News London)

“They have refused to move out. So my children were supposed to go back to school in London on the second of September, and we [gave] our tenants notice for a long time,” he says.

In fact, he says he served an eviction notice in February of this year, and not only have the tenants refused to leave, but Awori says they have stopped paying rent altogether.

So far he says his family is out more than $10,000.

“It is draining, because we are paying rent and paying [a] mortgage, and Ontario rent has gone high, as you know,” he says. “Of course everything has gone high, this is just taking a toll.”

Meantime, Awori says he hasn’t been able to get his case heard by the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB).

“This is unacceptable,” he says. “We’ve tried all avenues. They say, ‘Backlog, backlog, backlog.’ Backlog for how long?”

In a written response to CTV News London, Janet Deline, spokesperson for Tribunals Ontario, says a five month moratorium on eviction hearings during the pandemic is partly to blame for delays.

Jeremy Awori, the owner and landlord of the townhouse located on Fanshawe Park Road East. (Bryan Bicknell/CTV News London)

During that time, 25,000 hearing slots were lost, according to Deline.

The response goes on to say, “The LTB recognizes current processing times are longer than we wish them to be, and we understand the impact that delays have on those who access our services. We are actively working to improve our service standards and to modernize our operations to provide more timely and effective service to our users.”

The Landlord and Tenant Board confirms the Awori family applied for hearings in June and July to evict tenants and collect rent monies owed. So far, no hearings have been scheduled, and the tenants have not responded.

As for the family, Awori says they just want to get on with their lives in the townhouse they thought they’d be able to call home.

“Do the honest thing and leave our property so that we can move back and our kids can go to school in London. This is our property that we worked hard to acquire,” he says.