Kenneth J. Wakely

The appellant tenants appealed a Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) order terminating their 24-year tenancy and evicting them so the landlord husband could occupy the unit following a marriage breakdown.

The respondent landlords brought a motion to quash the appeal.

The Divisional Court granted the motion, finding the appeal was manifestly devoid of merit because it raised questions of fact and mixed fact and law, rather than questions of law alone as required by s. 210(1) of the Residential Tenancies Act.

The court quashed the appeal but exercised its discretion to delay the eviction date to allow the tenants time to find new accommodations.

The landlord brought a motion in writing to lift the automatic stay of an eviction order made by the Landlord and Tenant Board.

The tenant breached a previous court direction requiring him to make a rental arrears payment of $1,400.00 to maintain the stay.

The tenant acknowledged the breach but cited undocumented medical issues as the reason.

The court found the tenant's excuses unpersuasive and lifted the stay of eviction, noting that the statutory stay is not intended to allow a tenant to live rent-free.

The moving party tenant sought an extension of time to file a Notice of Appeal from a Landlord and Tenant Board order terminating his tenancy for the landlord's own use.

The tenant had requested a review of the original order, but due to an administrative error, the LTB's review order dismissing the request was not released until months later.

Applying the Enbridge Gas factors, the court found that the tenant demonstrated a bona fide intention to appeal, the delay was reasonably explained by waiting for the review order, and the proposed appeal raised a question of law regarding the statutory affidavit requirements.

The motion for an extension of time was granted.