In theory, it’s a symbiotic relationship — a landlord provides housing for a tenant and in return the tenant provides income for the landlord. Everyone’s happy, right? Yet, experts say in Toronto’s tight housing market there’s a growing wedge between landlords and tenants. “What I’m experiencing right now, both on the landlord and tenant side, is a lot of antagonism and a lot of mistrust,” said Toronto lawyer Caryma Sa’d, who represents both tenants and landlords. On the landlord side, that antagonism was on public display in a recent online forum, in which a group of Ontario-based landlords blatantly shared tips on how best to evict tenants in bad faith to raise rents, such as lying about a family member moving in.On the online forum, posted to Red Flag Deals, landlords bemoaned rules one said were “heavy on the tenant protection.” They discussed roadblocks they face in trying to get higher rents, and touted using Airbnb over long-term rentals. One user even referred to some renters as “professional, douchebag tenants.”At the same time, renters are also organizing. The Facebook group “Ontario Tenant Rights” boasts more than 26,000 members, sharing screen grabs of texts from landlords and seeking advice on fighting eviction notices.Experts the Star spoke to point to the Toronto’s increasingly tight housing market — which has a vacancy rate of just 1.1 per cent — pitting landlords seeking higher profits against tenants trying to stave off rent increases or re-entering the market. Adding fuel to that tension, they say, is growing inequality, systemic problems and, in some cases, downright greed.Why landlords are becoming more disdainful of tenants “Landlords don’t feel good if they have a tenant that has been there for a while, who might be a great tenant, but they’re seeing every property surrounding them is making more money,” Sa ...
|