The Tenant From Hell

We have been forced to deal with the tenant from hell for almost a year now. I’ll call her Evil Sheila to simplify things here.


We’ve heard every imaginable excuse out of her as to why she can’t pay her rent again this month, her cheque is late, her cheque was lost, they put a hold on her cheque, welfare put a hold on her cheque until her disability goes through. It’s an endless spewing of B.S.

Her first hydro bill was almost $650.00. She refuses to pay it. She contacted one of those free lawyers that think all tenants are perfect and all landlords are bad. We got a threatening letter from this lawyer. When Evil Sheila was asked about the lies she told this lawyer the Evil One denied contacting the lawyer. She then wanted us to hire her so she could pay her rent. We rented her a place to live, we are not required to give her a job as well. A letter was faxed to her lawyer detailing the inaccuracies (lies) in the Evil One’s statements. Never did hear back from her.

With rental arrears of $2,500.00 we served her the N4 giving her 14 days to pay in full or get out. She did neither so we file our L1, paid the $170.00, got our hearing date, served the Evil One her Notice of Hearing. At the hearing she denied getting the N4. Despite our evidence to the contrary, that she was in fact served the N4, we had to start the whole process over again. I quickly filled out the N4 and gave it to her right in front of the Adjudicator with the comment “deny getting served this one.”

She now owes close to $2,000.00 for hydro. This won’t be going up any except for interest because we disconnected her for non payment. That was March 1st, on the second they had a generator hooked up, that they wired into the panel box themselves. Neither her nor her boyfriend are electricians so it’s a fire hazard. They can afford to rent/buy a generator and put $20.00 worth of gas in it a day but they can’t afford to pay their rent or hydro.

There are 2 wood stoves in her trailer. It’s between 80 and 90 degrees in there. She’s also running 3 space heaters, 2 old fridges, a washer and dryer, and feels the need to turn on the oven as hot as it will go and leave the door open. She never turns lights off, her Christmas lights outside are on 24/7 and she wonders why her hydro bill is so high. Duh!! I guess you are stupider than I first gave you credit for.

No money for rent or hydro but they always have a fridge full of beer and a wine rack with at least 10 bottles in and another 5 or 6 bottles of other alcohol on top of the bar. They are in the local bar drinking every day. They eat in restaurants most of the time, probably because she thinks the oven is a furnace not something you would use to cook on.

Her lies at the Board Hearing, and the adjudicator taking her side have given her at least one more month to live without having to pay her rent.

Why Ontario Landlords Should Use the Form N4

The “professional tenant” needs to know right away that the landlord is not a charitable organization whose mission is to house everyone for free. Even if the rent is only a day or two late you should always serve the tenant with form N4. It will save a lot of headaches down the road.


If the rent is due on the first of the month and the tenant has paid, then on the second of the month you should be serving the tenant a form N4. The N4 gives the tenant 14 days to pay in full or move out.

If the tenant fails to pay what they owe and fails to move out, on the 15th day you can file either an L1 or an L2 to collect what the tenant owes and evict them.

Serving the N4 can be helpful as it creates a paper trail of communication between you and the tenant that late rent is not acceptable. You can then serve the tenant with an N8 to terminate the tenancy at the end of the term for being persistently late with their rent.

If you make it common practice to serve the N4 to everyone who doesn’t pay their rent on time none of your tenants can claim you are picking on them or singling them out over other tenants who do the same thing.

If you try to end a tenancy because the tenant is persistently late paying their rent, the Landlord and Tenant Board may choose not to end the tenancy. In the past they have made orders requiring the tenant to pay their rent in full on the date it is due. If they miss just one payment the landlord can file an application and have the tenant evicted for not following a Board Order.

As landlords we all want tenants that pay their rent in full and on time. While we understand that sometimes there may be extenuating circumstances that prevent a tenant from paying their full rent on the day it is due, this should be the exception not the rule.

Things Looking Up for Ontario Landlords.

The Landlord and Tenant Board in Ontario has increased their monetary jurisdiction from $10,000.00 to $25,000.00. Along with some tips on how to collect what’s rightfully yours.




Effective January 1 2010 landlords can recover up to $25,000.00 in arrears and property damage, up from $10,000.00. Unfortunately collecting from these “professional tenants” hasn’t gotten any easier. They are usually on welfare or disability and those cheques cannot be garnisheed.

Once you have a Board Order you can file it with the Courts for collection. Always make copies of any cheques a tenant gives you. This information is very useful when trying to have the Courts collect the debt for you.

You can also put a lien on any vehicle they own. If they sell the vehicle you get your money, or at least a portion of it.

With the information from their cheques you can attempt to garnishee their bank account. A good time to file this with the Courts is when people start getting their tax refunds.

You can also turn the matter over to a collection agency. Their fees are usually pretty steep, but you only pay if they collect. Something is better than nothing.

You can and should report them to the credit bureau.