Cornwall & Kingston area veteran Paralegal James Moak has championed and fought for the Ontario Landlord and Tenant Board to no longer accept unlicensed representatives to appear before tribunals in contradiction to the Law Society Act.
In a case heard in March of 2019 it was determined:
“The applicant is not the “Landlord” as defined by the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 (the Act) and is not authorized to provide legal services in the Province of Ontario.
The APPLICANT therefore DID NOT HAVE THE AUTHORITY to serve notices of termination under the act, and did not have authority to file with the board.”
And at root:
“The Applicant is a private property management company. The Applicant does not own the residential complex or the rental unit. Furthermore,the Applicant did not enter into the March 28, 2018 written tenancy agreement with the Tenant. The Applicant, therefore, is not a “person who permits occupancy of a rental unit”
Instead , the property owner and the person who entered into the March 28, 2018 tenancy agreement with the Tenant, is the “person who permits occupancy of a rental unit” and is therefore the “Landlord” as defined by the Act.
Thousands of cases have been taken to the board without proper licensed representation, IE a paralegal or lawyer after an appellant court decided in the landmark Law Society of Upper Canada V. Chiarelli, 2015 ONCA 391 in which is was ruled that Chiarelli, a property manager, was not authorized to provide legal services to a property owner with respect to matters that rise under the act.
Mr. Moak has led the long charge to have the LTB uphold the law is is spelled out clearly in the act.
It now appears after years of struggle that adjudicators are enforcing. the law in Provincial LTB hearings.
Asked for comment, James Moak responded:
It is gratifying to see the law being upheld instead of flaunted.
James Moak