Sonia Anwar-Ali
Serving landlords “at every step” of the eviction process
Five things to know
Anwar-Ali was first appointed to the LTB on April 18, 2019. Her appointment was extended from Jan. 1, 2020 to April 17, 2021.
Anwar-Ali worked as a landlord-only paralegal for five years prior to becoming an adjudicator.
Anwar-Ali’s former employer, D&D Associates, is one of the most active paralegal firms at the LTB.
In 2019, Anwar-Ali refused to recuse herself from adjudicating a case where the landlord was represented by her former employer, D&D Associates.
In a November 2020 online hearing during the LTB’s COVID-19 eviction “blitz,” Anwar-Ali did not adequately provide human-rights accommodations when a disabled tenant cried out in pain.
Sonia Anwar-Ali was first appointed to the LTB on April 18, 2019. Prior to becoming an adjudicator, Sonia Anwar-Ali was a paralegal for D&D Associates. D&D is one of the most active paralegal firms in the province when it comes to LTB matters. Their website states that founders “David Rubin and David Ciobotaru appear before the Landlord and Tenant Board, Small Claims Court or a Provincial Offences hearing on a near daily basis.” D&D Associates doesn’t have a lot of employees, and Anwar-Ali was part of that small but active family.
D&D Associates, Sonia Anwar-Ali’s former employer, in a description from their website states that their company: “provides legal services for Landlords at every step in the eviction process from the Notice to terminate to the the eviction filing at the Enforcement Office.”
Anwar Ali’s profile from D&D Associates.
Sonia Anwar-Ali used to have an employee profile on the website for landlord-only paralegal firm D&D Associates. Her profile read:
“Sonia Anwar-Ali obtained her honours Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from Queen’s University in June 2011. She then went on to study at Seneca’s Accelerated Paralegal Program, graduating in June 2014 with Honours. She received her license from the Law Society of Upper Canada as a Paralegal in October 2014.
Ms. Anwar-Ali began her career with D&D Associates Paralegal Professional Corporation as a placement student in April 2014 and currently works full-time as an Associate Paralegal. Ms. Anwar-Ali practices in Landlord and Tenant matters and regularly attends hearings at the Landlord and Tenant Boards throughout Ontario. She also provides legal services to our clients including drafting Notices and filing applications with the Landlord and Tenant Board as well as advocating on their behalf at the Landlord and Tenant Board hearings.
Ms. Anwar-Ali is also a Commissioner for taking oaths in the Province of Ontario for work done within the permitted scope of practice of a licensed paralegals.”
Despite the provincial eviction moratorium, Anwar-Ali issued orders throughout the summer of 2020, during the first wave of COVID-19, including Section 78 agreements, falsely ordering that tenants could be evicted within 30 days if they were a day late a dollar short even while sheriffs weren’t enforcing evictions.
In one LTB case from September 10, 2019, the tenant’s lawyer requested that Sonia Anwar-Ali recuse herself from adjudicating the case because her previous employer D&D Associates was representing the landlord. Despite the fact that Anwar-Ali worked for D&D for five years, she decided there was no conflict-of-interest. She refused to recuse herself and heard the case anyway.
Transcript from an online hearing between Sonia Anwar-Ali and a disabled tenant
Sonia Anwar-Ali: Okay, good afternoon everybody.
Tenant: NO, PLEASE, PLEASE STOP FOR A MOMENT. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE. I really — I can’t do two things at once. I have a brain injury. I wasn’t supposed to be doing this on a video screen. You’ve got multiple medical people telling you I can't do this.
Sonia Anwar-Ali: Okay, so ma’am—
Tenant: And I was refused, I was denied. Because I’m disabled this is not okay! My hearing is going crazy. These are $8,000 hearing aids that I have to wear to manage my sound issues that I have from this brain injury! These are $1,500 glasses that I have to wear! They’re not normal glasses.
Sonia Anwar-Ali: I’m going to put you on mute. And if you have any preliminary issue, I’ll hear from you shortly, but I can’t have you disrupt my hearing right now.
Tenant: But I can’t look at the screen. I can’t actually do this, it ACTUALLY hurts.
Sonia Anwar-Ali: Can you try calling in via phone?
Tenant: No, I can’t listen to five people at once. You don’t understand. This was all put from medical doctors. It was all submitted. They said this format is absolutely inaccessible because of my injuries.
Sonia Anwar-Ali: You’re interrupting my hearing right now.
Tenant: I’m disabled!
Sonia Anwar-Ali: … and I will get to you shortly.
Tenant: I’m being discriminated against!
Sonia Anwar-Ali: Thank you. Good afternoon everybody. Welcome to the LTB. My name is Sonia Anwar-Ali.
Tenant: I’m sorry, I can’t do this visually. I will try to log in—I don’t know how to do this—and I’m shaking. My hands—
Sonia Anwar-Ali: Okay, I apologize for the interruption. Uhm—
Tenant: I am so stressed right now, my hands are shaking. They are actually shaking! This isn’t made up. This is ACTUALLY a problem! This isn’t a fun disability to have, I haven’t worked for two and a half years!
Sonia Anwar-Ali: Could you please listen?
Tenant: Please. I can’t sit here and listen to these things. You have to have somebody notify me. This is going to cause me to have a breakdown to listen to all this stuff. And nobody’s—this is—this is why I can’t do this. I can’t just leave you on in the background. I will actually physically faint, and, and be ill. I had my doctors send you multiple letters saying “she can’t do this” and NOBODY is listening. I’m not a stupid person, I have a very high IQ, but I have a processing issue. Because a woman lied, and she—she hit me on a bike, really hard, and threw me onto my back. And I have been suffering ever since. I —two and a half years I have not been able to to work and I’m trying so hard. I spent $20,000 this fall on rehabilitation. I am trying everything. I am spending my retirement money like water, just so that maybe I can work again. [voice breaking] I can’t do this! This is actual discrimination, this isn’t made up. This is actually a disability that is documented. It’s REAL. It happens. There are more people with brain injuries than cancer. That’s how serious it is!
Sonia Anwar-Ali: Okay, if you continue to speak and disrupt me from doing - conducting the hearing, I am going to remove you.
Tenant: I’m just in pain. I’m in agony!
Sonia Anwar-Ali: So if you need to request an adjournment, I’ll get to it shortly. I do—it’s 2:21—I do need to start my block. This block has multiple applications, not just yours. So could you please wait until I call your matter?
Tenant: I CAN’T IT’S ACTUALLY—YOU’RE HURTING ME!
Sonia Anwar-Ali: I’m hoping the tenant understands that her behaviour today was inappropriate at the beginning of the hearing, and that hopefully she will not repeat this behaviour at the next hearing.