Last weekend, Philip Zigman, who co-created renovictionsTO.com spoke to us in length about the N13. We are grateful that Philip braved the cold with us, and shared both his knowledge and his time with the Wingreen Tenant Association. Thank you, Phil! A formidable ally!
We have learned that on it's own, the N13 is a meaningless form until such time that it is filed with the LTB by the landlord. Anyone can print out the N13 form and fill it out, in fact, you can see the N13 on the Documents page of our site. We have also included the document that outlines instructions for the N13 as well.
The section for the "termination date" on the N13 states "This is a legal notice that could lead to you being evicted from your home" because it not an actual order of eviction. The termination date here needs to be at least 120 days (4 months) into the future.
Below that section, the landlord is required to state the reason for issuing the N13. Since we already know about Wingreen Court LP's 5 year renoviction plan, and since Elaine Page has also disclosed the same in the Termination of Tenancy Letters she issued, it is almost uncontested that the landlord will need to select "Reason 2" on the N13 form which states "I require the rental unit to be vacant in order to do repairs or renovations so extensive that I am required to get a building permit and the rental unit must be vacant to do the work"
Next, the landlord will need to disclose details of the work planned, and whether or not they have already obtained Building Permits for the work they need to do.
On page 2 of the form, under "Important Information from the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB)" it states: "You do not have to move out if you disagree with what the landlord has put in this notice. However, the landlord can apply to the LTB to evict you. The LTB will schedule a hearing where you can explain why you disagree."
Essentially, if you receive the N13, YOU DO NOT NEED TO DO ANYTHING! You do not need to contact anyone at Trivest or Elaine Page. You do not have to sign anything. The landlord has to file the N13 with the LTB, the LTB will then send you details of a hearing date when it is scheduled. At the time of writing this post, the LTB is backed up between 5-8 months. There is no urgency to do anything at all.
Eventually, when the time comes for the hearing at the LTB, we will support each other through it. Some of the things we have learned include what the adjudicators are looking for from the Tenants and the Landlord at the time of the hearing, what we can say to make our case impactful, what we can expect Elaine Page to say at the hearing in her capacity as the legal representative of the landlord. It is at this time that if the adjudicator rules in favour of the landlord that an order of eviction would be issued for a future date.
There is absolutely no need to panic or get stressed if you receive the N13 letter. As we discussed, we are all in this together, and we will fight this together. There is still plenty of time for us to see the N13s taken to the LTB.
We know that employees at Trivest and Page Paralegal are reading the content on our website so we will not be discussing the strategies we will use at our LTB hearing online.
In solidarity!
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