Please Help

I've been a lurker here for quite a while, never got around to posting, so I don't even know if this is the right forum to post this in, but a friend told me 'go post that on the GRM forums', so here goes...

My name is Chris, i'm a nerd, a car fiend, and a bit of a dork. I'm currently living in a strange industrial space. an old tractor dealership to be precise. I have a small 250sqft apartment at the back of the shop, I have a very friendly orange kitten, I am surrounded by projects and the things I love, I'm in the process of starting a business to perform performance modifications on cars, and I've been talking to my first prospective customer.

This is all genuinely one of my biggest dreams come true. i've been renting the place for a little over a year and a half now, doing some work on the side to pay bills and keep myself afloat. I couldn't have been happier.

Until three days ago.

You see, since renting the shop, I hadn't received a single electrical bill from my landlord. I asked for it every month when I paid him the rent, he continuously told me he'd email it to me, or have it for me next month, but I never got it. I knew it was getting up there in price, since I'd had to heat the mini-apartment with electricity over the 4 months of cold weather Ontario had this year. So, I made an agreement with the landlord, to slowly pay it off, even if I didn't know how much I owed. Things seemed to be ok, but i was foolish, and didn't get this payment agreement in writing.

On Friday, the landlord arrived with notice papers in hand showing how much i owed him. $5636.64CDN (4,436.88 USD), to be paid before the end of the month, or he'll start the eviction process.

Everything I have that's worth anything is now for sale, the projects, the parts, everything. I've approached banks about a loan, but was denied due to poor credit. I've spoken to family, but their own financial issues prevent them from helping. A very good friend of mine, Paul, is doing his best to help, i'm using his ebay account to sell a couple things he donated to me, along with a few tool parts i have, i'll post them in an update once they're up. I've also got my meagre selection of car projects up on classifieds, including 2 vintage Mercedes S-Class cars, and a one-of-a-kind fiberglass kit car, both of which i'll also post links to at the bottom of this post.

But with only two weeks to somehow come up with $5600CDN, I don't know what else to do. So i'm here asking for help. i'm not foolish, like i said, everything that's worth anything is up for sale right now, but I don't know if they'll sell in time.

If something sells, I'll update the goal to reflect that sale.

Any and all funds raised will go directly to my landlord in an attempt to stave off eviction, and keep the dream alive.

I don't expect a miracle, but any kind of help is appreciated, even if it's just to share the link to the gofundme.

Thank you very much for your time.

https://www.gofundme.com/k8rrr-please-help-me/

here are the links to the cars i'm trying to sell:

1979 Mercedes-Benz 300SD x2 http://www.kijiji.ca/v-view-details.html?adId=1281833312

Late 60s Coleman-Craft Fiberglass Kit Car and Chassis http://www.kijiji.ca/v-view-details.html?adId=1281846833

TLDR; I'm currently starting to live out my dreams of owning and living in a shop and working on cars, but my landlord surprised me with a year and a half worth of electricity bills all at once, despite a verbal agreement to take payments for it over time. I have two weeks to save my dream from eviction, please help me, even if it's just to share the gofundme link.

FYI I was the friend who suggested posting here. Chris is a truly good guy & a proper gearhead who I know well from my local autocross group back when I used to do a ton of it. I've been out of that scene for a while (moved far away) but still consider him a friend.

He wouldn't be asking for help on a whim. He could genuinely use the support here.

Welcome Chris! Sounds like a crappy landlord thing to do. By chance have you a copy of your lease? Perhaps it outlines the billing arrangements that the landlord was supposed to adhere to, which might give you some recourse for making payment arrangements. In any case, welcome aboard. I know our members will have more ideas to help you.

In the US there are eviction laws and steps that must be followed. Most of these steps tend to favorites the Tennant more than the landlord. Certaily, Canada and Ontario must have similar.

If a US landlord presented you with old bills all at once and then demanded payment you could not be evicted immediately. I am not claiming to know these US laws other than they exist but have you seeked out legal recourse?

PS: Welcome Chris. Your largest error is that you didn't come here earlier.

Another thought...
You have informed us of what goods you have to sell to raise funds but what about services? You have a large audience here so maybe you should expand by telling others that might be in your area what capabilities you can complete with this big Ole building of yours.

In reply to John Welsh :

I don't believe there are Federal laws on this subject. Protections vary widely by state

In reply to Devolution:

I'm sorry to hear you are going through this.

Have you approached the landlord with payment options? Sounds like the bill is something like $300 per month...what if you paid double the electric bill until paid off?

I have a feeling that you may not legally owe this. The bills are apparently in his name, and your lease would have to have something weird in it to make you pay his bills. If that's true, it may be very difficult for him to evict you if your rent has been paid.

I would bet that he's got another commercial tenant he is trying to lease to, and wants you out. If that's the case, staying will be miserable whether or not you pay.

Here's what I would do. I'd keep paying rent, refuse the electric bills, and let him try to evict me. Don't sell your stuff. Start looking for a new place to live. It's gonna take him a long time to get rid of you, and he's gonna turn up the heat and make it very unpleasant for you.

You are renting from a jerk. If you sell everything you own and pay the electric bills, he will still be a jerk. But you won't have your stuff.

Find a better landlord.

I think you may need some help beyond what this forum can give you. In general though, I would agree with SVReX - the landlord didn't give you the electric bill, and you asked for it, so I don't think it's your problem.

If you haven't already, I would start contacting any tenants' rights organizations that you know of - I found this for starters: http://www.sjto.gov.on.ca/ltb/faqs/

I don't think that it's ok to present a back-log of bills when they're supposed to be monthly... that seems way off.

In reply to SVreX: All this! Be polite to your landlord and pay your agreed on rent. Period. Do not pay this exorbitant electric bill or sell off your stuff.

Start looking for a new place. Sorry to say it, and this may be your dream situation otherwise, but this landlord is ready for a new tenant and I can't see salvaging the relationship. Depending on the laws in your area but I'm pretty sure he can't just give you two weeks to get out, but if he can get your ducks in a row and be ready to move.

E36 M3ty situation though, sorry to hear it.

We have very powerful, and very tenant friendly laws in Ontario. I know, I used to be a landlord. Look them up, give them a call. If you're living there, he can't evict you in 30 days. Minimum 60 from what I recall, and he needs a good reason. If you are so inclined, you can make his life miserable, and the Landlord tenant board will be more than happy to assist you.

I can only agree with the above sentiments. Defend yourself with whatever means you have, while paying the agreed upon rent, and remaining as polite as possible until you can find a new place.

I'd hate to see you sell all your stuff to dig out of this hole only to find you're out of the cooking pot and into the fire because your landlord is obviously a friggin dick. If you have nothing left to sell, and he drops another bombshell, what then?

Zombie was right. Here are some quick blurbs I was able to find that might help:

From: http://www.cleo.on.ca/en/publications/tenantsaccess/eviction

"It is against the law for your landlord to evict you or lock you out without first getting an order from the Landlord and Tenant Board."

"To evict a tenant, a landlord must follow the steps set out in the Residential Tenancies Act (RTA)."

"Here are examples of reasons that your landlord might put in the notice:

You owe rent.

You often pay your rent late.

You or your guests did something illegal on the property.

You or your guests caused damage or serious problems for your landlord or other tenants.

Your landlord wants to tear down the building or use it for something else.

Your landlord, your landlord's family, someone buying your place, or the buyer's family wants to move in. Family includes only spouse, child, parent, spouse's child, and spouse's parent. It also includes a caregiver for any of them."

• I dont think you've met any of these, unless the term "rent" can somehow be interpreted to include the utilities.

(more from the same site)

" If you do not want to leave or if you do not agree with the reasons in the notice, you do not have to move out. But get legal advice right away."

"Notice for eviction for overdue rent is 14 days"

"If you do not move out

You might decide to move out after your landlord gives you a notice. If you do not, the next step is for your landlord to apply to the Landlord and Tenant Board for an eviction order. When your landlord applies to the Board, the Board will send you:

a Notice of Hearing telling you the time and place of the Board hearing, and

an Application explaining what your landlord is asking the Board for."

"The Board will schedule a hearing to decide if there is enough reason to evict you. A member of the Board is in charge of the hearing. At the hearing, you can bring evidence and explain the reasons why the Board should not evict you."

tenant tip sheet

At this point I think you have a place to live (for the time being) and a very strong ground to make your stand.

Moving on, for the ontario.ca gov website it sounds like his "notice of termination" might actually be completely void already since it says:

" The notice of termination is void if, before the day the landlord applies to the Board for an order terminating the tenancy and evicting the tenant based on the notice, the tenant pays,

(a) the rent that is in arrears under the tenancy agreement; and

(b) the additional rent that would have been due under the tenancy agreement as at the date of payment by the tenant had notice of termination not been given. 2006, c. 17, s. 59 (3)."

• You've paid your rent. I would ask that you look at your rental contract and talk to the board. See if "utilities" is included with the term "rent" because if you're paying rent on time it sounds like he doesn't have a leg to piss on

I have some spare time on my hands. Send me a PM if you had a specific question concerning the law, I'm no lawyer but my google-fu is strong. Also: Please stop selling your stuff.

So, obviously I am in the US and my knowledge of the laws ends strictly with Ohio, US laws and commercial space. But if the "apartment" is something you added and the space is a commercial space you may find yourself in a difficult spot. The laws governing commercial space and commercial leases are very different from residential space and leases, with good reason. Your next steps should still be to review your lease in depth and contact the Landlord Tenant Board, but as noted by Hungary Bill, it's the "Residential Tenancies Act (RTA)" that offers a lot of protections. Note the term Residential.

In the end it's possible it might not matter - sometimes just living in a place is enough to gain you protections you might not otherwise have. The landlord might cause you other issues - ask you to move out based on living in a commercial space, for example. But if he's written you a residential lease on the space then you should be in the clear.

Do you have a copy of your lease? If you need someone to read it let us know. I'm willing to try to help. I'm not a lawyer, but am a commercial landlord and can at least understand the terminology. Others here might be more qualified. A local real estate lawyer to you would be the most qualified, but maybe you don't have the funds to pay them.

I meant to add: SVreX has an excellent point in that your landlord is definitely a jerk if not outright wrong. But continuing the relationship might not be the best move for you since he can continue to make your life miserable if he wants. He might lose - and even keep losing - but is that really how you want to live for the next year or twenty? If it's a unique space and you've already poured yourself into improvements I can understand the urge to stay, though. I've been there - two or three times. Finally got to where I could buy my own and do NOT miss dealing with commercial landlords. Ironic given that I now am one! (But, I try to be a good landlord which is quite different from average, it seems.)

Hungary Bill wrote: Also: Please stop selling your stuff.

This↑

Welcome. We, as a collective, have a titanic aversion to asshatery. Your landlord makes regular asshats look like cherubim. Eff that guy, lawyer up, and litigate this piece of excrement back to the stone age.

And, post it all on the internet for us to fawn over. Welcome to the hive.

Do you have your own power meter? This sounds extremely scammy to me, generally if a utility isn't bundled into the rent it's either shut off until you have it turned on (in your name) or immediately transferred to your name. Like everybody else said definitely take this whole mess to the proper authorities and see what they think of it, continue paying rent, look for a better place, and don't sell anything you weren't already planning on getting rid of. It will take him months to legally evict you, and from the sounds of it you can make him deeply regret illegally evicting you if he tries.

In reply to BrokenYugo:

Right. If the landlord was getting the utility bills and your name wasn't on them, then you do not need to pay them. At least here in Arizona, it's actually quite different to force payment of utilities onto someone else, and when the credit flags start popping up, it's on he who's name is on the bill.

Lawyer time. Verbal agreements are worth the paper they are printed on. Stop selling your stuff, but do start looking for a new place.

In Ontario, even if it wasn't rented to you as residential space. When you make it your residence and the landlord doesn't takes steps to keep you from living there, it becomes a residence. Once it becomes a residence it is covered under the residential tenancy act, provided there is a washroom and kitchen. As others have mentioned being covered by the RTA is a great advantage to have. I highly suggest scheduleing a hearing ASAP as a tenant there is no fee for you. You said you didn't get the payment agreement in writing. That is also to your advantage. If it is a verbal agreement it is your word against the landlord's. That being the case and with the electricity being in the landlord's name the LTB trubunal will almost certainly rule the landlord is on the hook for the power bill. Waiting a year and a half to charge you was a big mistake on the landlord's behalf. In Ontario, if you pay the landlord directly for electricity used, it must be billed to you with the same frequency as the landlord.

dculberson wrote: Do you have a copy of your lease? If you need someone to read it let us know.

THIS.

Terms for this sort of thing are, or should be, very explicitly laid out. This is why lease paperwork is pages long and not a single paragraph. If he is supposed to bill you for electricity, that needs to be explicit in the lease and the timeframe also needs to be explicit.

My lease paperwork, for example, explicitly says that X dollars must be paid by the Yth day every month, with Z dollars/day late fee, until W date at which point the lease must be renegotiated. Electricity is provided free to me but there are to be no high current "permanent" devices like refrigerators, heaters, or air conditioning.

I'd wager there is no proper lease in writing, much less one spelling out who pays for what utilities.

Has the landlord showed you actual utility bills to prove you've used that much electricity? Without knowing what your billing rate is or what kinds of equipment you run in the garage it sounds awfully high for just 18 months of using the place. I'd want to see proof before doing anything.

I'm pretty sure what your shiny happy person landlord is trying to do would be illegal in the US, and we have some of the worst tenant protection laws in the First World.

In reply to Sky_Render:

I'm pretty sure you're wrong.

I've owned rental real estate in 6 states, and I don't think anything he's done is technically illegal.

The closest legality he may have skirted close to is the threat to evict for no apparent reason. But the OP never actually said why he is threatened with eviction. There could be a legal reason. Even then, so far it's just a threat.

There are no laws against threats, and no laws against being a jerk.

SVreX wrote: There are no laws against threats, and no laws against being a jerk.

You can't have laws against being a jerk because you wouldn't be able to tell where to stop...