For nearly half a century, former special education elementary school teacher Victoria MacDonald has called a two-bedroom apartment in Toronto’s west end home.
On Tuesday, an adjudicator with the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) tribunal decided she is allowed to stay indefinitely, tossing an application brought by her landlord, South Ontario Investments Ltd., to evict MacDonald to make way for a corporate director’s son.
From her home on Windermere Avenue in Swansea, minutes after the adjudicator’s decision, MacDonald, 74, told TorontoToday she was “elated” and “relieved” by the news.
The tenant, who is disabled and on a fixed income, said she is hopeful the decision will bring an end to a battle with her landlord that has been ongoing for more than one year.
Reached following the decision, the landlord’s paralegal, Tira Muise, said that’s unlikely, however.
The case hinges on the landlord’s application for a N12 eviction, which permits a landlord to force a tenant to vacate, if the owner, a family member or a caregiver, is keen to move into the unit and stay for at least one year.
N12s have grown in use in recent years, but the adjudicator dismissed the application, arguing corporate landlords, such as South Ontario Investments Ltd., are not permitted to use N12s.
Muise said she believes the adjudicator’s decision was incorrect, however.
“I’m almost certain this will not be the end of it,” she said.
Eviction notice 'came out of the blue': tenant
MacDonald said her challenge with her landlord began two summers ago with an afternoon email telling her to vacate her home.
“I am writing to inform you of the need to terminate your lease agreement for the apartment,” said Jalal Jabr, a professional working on behalf of the landlord, in an email reviewed by TorontoToday.
The email said MacDonald would need to vacate the property within 60 days because the landlord’s son would be moving to Toronto. “You have been a very good tenant and I hope you will find a suitable place to live soon,” Jabr said.
MacDonald said the email came out of the blue. “I was absolutely panicked,” she said.
MacDonald said she has been sober for more than two decades, but that the imminent threat of eviction brought back the powerful forces that once pushed her to drink.
Instead, she said she forced herself to go to an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting.
It was there, sharing her eviction threat, that another participant encouraged her to seek legal aid through the Parkdale Neighbourhood Legal Clinic — and to fight the eviction, she said.
“It was a godsend,” MacDonald added. “I started to learn my rights.”
In bad faith or not?
Parkdale Community Legal Services lawyer Samuel Mason, who acted on MacDonald’s behalf, said he’s seen a “meteoric rise” in the use of N12 evictions since the pandemic.
From 2020 to 2023, the number of N12s filed with the LTB increased by 85 per cent, according to data obtained by CBC news.
In 2020, about 3,500 N12s were filed. In 2023, that number increased to about 6,400.
Mason said landlords commonly use N12s to evict longtime tenants, like MacDonald, who are paying modest rent. He alleged such eviction applications aren’t about moving relatives in, but “breaking” long-term tenancies with the goal of charging subsequent tenants higher rent.
In an interview with TorontoToday, Muise agreed some landlords are abusing N12s, but said that’s not the case with her clients.
Muise said the intended tenant for MacDonald’s room was the son of Amal Abdelmoein Helal, one of the directors of South Ontario Investments Ltd.
MacDonald said she doesn’t dispute Helal’s son wants to live in her unit, but alleged that another core motivation for the attempted eviction is profit.
Had the landlord’s intention been genuine, MacDonald said the son could have moved into a unit in the building that came available last summer.
The first-floor unit is virtually identical to her own, but was advertised at more than double the price, she said. While MacDonald currently pays about $1,100, the other unit was advertised at $2,300, she said.
“Maybe I’m a Negative Nelly, but I think the main reason why they wanted me out is because I pay such low rent,” the tenant said.
Via their paralegal, Helal and her son declined to speak with TorontoToday. Muise did not respond to this allegation directly.
In a September email, Mason brought the vacant unit to the landlord’s paralegal's attention but was told: “Unfortunately, the unit you have mentioned is not suitable for my client.”
In an interview with TorontoToday, Muise declined to provide additional details as to why the vacant unit would not suffice.
Corporate or individual landlord?
Ultimately, it was not these details that decided the case. Rather, it was the judge’s conclusion that the landlord was a corporation — not an individual.
During the hearing, the adjudicator reviewed several documents that listed the landlord as South Ontario Investments Ltd., including MacDonald’s lease agreement, an N12 application and a so-called N1 form, which the landlord used to inform MacDonald of a rent increase.
During the hearing, Muise argued that other adjudicators have found N12s permissible when a corporation was “closely held,” such as by an individual landlord and their child.
The adjudicator, Carrie Bertrand, did not bite.
For an N12 to be admissible, “[the landlord] has to be a person. It cannot be a corporation,” she said during the hearing.
“Sorry folks, but it’s pretty clear to me.”
An LTB Tribunal interpretation guideline states that corporations cannot evict a tenant using an N12. “Earlier decisions permitting some corporations to serve this type of notice are no longer valid,” per the document.
Mixed feelings looking forward
In the hallway of her apartment building Tuesday, MacDonald shared the good news with two neighbours who passed by.
They said they were thrilled for her and one gave the longtime tenant a gift.
MacDonald was jubilant and told TorontoToday she is hopeful to remain in her home, which she spotted neatly 50 years ago from the street with a for-rent sign in the third-floor window.
Still, she said the idea the landlord may still try to overturn the ruling has left her feeling shaky.
“There’s a lack of closure,” she said. “Are they going to try to sell the corporation … and then come back again? I don’t know.”
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CORRECTION: This article has been revised to correctly state the landlord's legal representation, Tira Muise, is a paralegal, not a lawyer.
