Court File and Parties
CITATION: Abdul-Haqq v. Mahato, 2019 ONSC 4465
DIVISIONAL COURT FILE NO.: 275/18
LANDLORD AND TENANT BOARD FILE NO: TNL-01365-18 DATE: 20190724
ONTARIO SUPERIOR COURT OF JUSTICE DIVISIONAL COURT
SWINTON, BACKHOUSE AND WILTON-SIEGEL JJ.
BETWEEN:
Khalid Abdul-Haqq Appellant
– and –
Parvez Lenny Mahato Respondent
Self-represented Appellant Self-represented Respondent
HEARD at Toronto: July 24, 2019
Oral Reasons for Judgment
SWINTON, J. (Orally)
[1] This is an appeal by the tenant from an order of the Landlord and Tenant Board (the “Board”) on March 2, 2018, evicting the tenant for non-payment of rent. He admits he has paid no rent since September, 2017. The arrears are approximately $17,000.
[2] Madam Justice Kiteley, on June 27, 2019, required the tenant to pay $5,000 by July 17, 2019 as a condition of hearing this appeal. He has paid nothing. In accordance with her order, the landlord moves to dismiss the appeal for failure to comply with the order.
[3] It is clear that the tenant is using the appeal process to stay in the unit rent free for as long as possible. Indeed, he objected to Madam Justice Kiteley’s scheduling of this appeal on the first available date when he was counting on a November hearing date. He responded that it is not this Court’s job to collect rent in answer to questions about compliance with the court order.
[4] The tenant has provided no satisfactory explanation as to why he did not appear at the Board hearing in April, 2018 in respect of his request to review the eviction order. He has failed to pay any rent. As Madam Justice Kiteley correctly observed, an appeal is not meant to allow a tenant to live rent free during the appeal process. Given all these circumstances, this appeal is an abuse of process.
[5] This appeal is dismissed, and the stay of the Board’s eviction order is lifted. Costs to the Landlord are fixed at $300.
Swinton J.
I agree
Backhouse J.
I agree
Wilton-Siegel J.
Date of Reasons for Judgment: July 24, 2019
Date of Release: July , 2019
CITATION: Abdul-Haqq v. Mahato, 2019 ONSC 4465
DIVISIONAL COURT FILE NO.: 275/18
LANDLORD AND TENANT BOARD FILE NO: TNL-01365-18 DATE: 20190724
ONTARIO SUPERIOR COURT OF JUSTICE DIVISIONAL COURT
SWINTON, BACKHOUSE AND WILTON-SIEGEL JJ.
BETWEEN:
Khalid Abdul-Haqq Appellant
– and –
Parvez Lenny Mahato Respondent
ORAL REASONS FOR JUDGMENT
Swinton J. (Orally)
Date of Reasons for Judgment: July 24, 2019
Date of Release: July , 2019