LTB Hearing Videos
During the COVID-19 eviction moratorium in the summer of 2020, the Landlord and Tenant Board was preparing for an unprecedented number of eviction hearings. In addition to a spate of new adjudicator hires, the LTB shifted to online hearings over Microsoft Teams. 10-20 eviction hearings are being held in two-hour windows, called “L1 express blocks” by one adjudicator in reference to the L1 application form for landlords to evict tenants for rent arrears.
But one thing the LTB didn’t prepare for was the response from organized tenants. Tenants continue to support their neighbours and intervene in hearings when necessary to make sure we are protected from being stripped of shelter during the pandemic.
Adjudicator Khalid Akram
Landlord and Tenant Board adjudicator Khalid Akram calls the massive amount of eviction hearings the "L1 express blocks." L1 refers to the LTB form landlords have to fill out to apply to evict a tenant for rent arrears.
In this video, adjudicator Khalid Akram keeps the eviction factory churning, even against dead tenants. In a Kafkaesque moment, he disregards the landlord saying that the tenant has already died, and asks if the tenant is on the line to proceed with the hearing.
Adjudicator Dale Whitmore
This video shows how the eviction factory works with numerous tenants issued standard orders (eviction in 11 days if arrears are not fully paid) in a matter of minutes. Adjudicator Dale Whitmore takes the landlord representative’s word when they say they have negotiated with the tenant, happily orders eviction, and moves onto the next one.
In this video, adjudicator Dale Whitmore gives an eviction order to a landlord who called in to a later hearing block after that same landlord had missed their hearing earlier in the day. When a lawyer chimed in that this was a violation of procedure, Whitmore told her, “Stick to your own case.”
Collecting Rent
Ex-RCMP officer and property manager Dawn King now she sits as an adjudicator at the LTB. This supercut shows the intense scrutiny tenants are put under by adjudicators during these eviction hearings, and the way they are forced into untenable payment plans. However, King makes it clear that adjudicators have no interest in possible human-rights violations or other tenancy issues that tenants bring up, they will only discuss money.
Section 78 is a clause that adjudicators attach to payment plans they order at the hearing, which means that if the tenant fails to adhere to the payment plan, the landlord can file for eviction without further notice to the tenant. Adjudicators at the LTB now regularly attach section 78 clauses, while pretending to present tenants with a choice: would they rather pay their arrears in full within 11 days (this is called a ‘standard order’), or accept a payment plan where they will be evicted if they are a day late or a dollar short?
Intervening in Hearings
Former landlord-side paralegal Shannon Kiekens orders a standard order against a tenant that has already made significant payments towards their arrears. The tenant union intervenes stating that there is clearly a conflict of interest and that the order is unfair towards the tenant.