Various Covid19 Legal Issues

Question: What should a tenant or landlord in Ontario do about rent arrears, N4 notices, or showings during Covid-19?

Answer: For Ontario landlord and tenant issues during Covid-19, Anderson Aylwin Begg & Co. can help a landlord or tenant manage rent arrears, negotiate an affordable payment plan, assess whether an N4 (Non-Payment of Rent) is appropriate, and handle showings or inspection risks with care for health and safety duties; a paralegal team can also review maintenance responsibilities for common areas and help reduce avoidable LTB conflict   by gathering the right facts, mapping options to the Residential Tenancies Act rules, and preparing next-step documents for the Landlord Tenant Board; call (905) 686-8080 to discuss your situation and get clear, practical guidance.

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Understanding Solutions For Landlord and Tenant Issues Arising Due to Covid19

Covid19 is an unprecedented crisis that brings personal health, security challenges, and legal concerns, into the forefront many areas of life as well as business including relations between landlords and tenants. Various legal issues involve rent payment difficulty due to the unexpected unemployment or reduced employment of many people who are struggling with financial troubles. Also fodder for conflicts is the issue of whether landlords should outright refrain from performing inspections or showings during this time or what precautions are reasonable. Additionally, concerns abound for maintenance including sterilization of everything from door knobs, entry key pads, among other things, are heightened including issues regarding whether the bar is now raised for the responsibility to perform proper maintenance as is legally required of the landlord.

Special Concerns Involving Covid-19

In many ways, Covid-19 poses as a Catch-22 by raising many difficult business management questions that may give rise to legal troubles including, among other issues:

• Whether a landlord should negotiate an affordable rent payment plan;
• Whether a tenant should make best efforts to avoid accruing rent arrears;
• Whether a landlord should issue an N4 - Non-Payment of Rent form to create paper trail; and
• Whether a landlord is responsible for extra-special maintenance services within common areas;
• Whether showings of tenanted units should be halted due to distancing and isolation needs.

These are just a few of the issues that landlords and tenants are now contending with and need to cautiously and compassionately address through respectful communication.