Landlord filed a small court claim

ricodeals wrote: ↑ If you have not been formally served, you cant be sued, so above is correct just ignore them.

wholesite wrote: ↑ Hello,

I have signed a 1-year lease agreement for a condo starting October 2020 but due to some personal reasons, I wanted to end the lease even before it is started. I told the landlord on September 26th regarding this and of course, he is unhappy with it. I tried to help him by finding a new tenant but he did not let me post an ad and told me I do not have any right to post an ad for his property as a tenant.

I asked him to give me permission to assign a lease to find a new tenant via text message and never responded, so after 6 days I send him an N9 lease termination notice and asked him again if he could let me assign the unit to another tenant but he refused it. So I again sent him the N9 form that I will be vacating the property in 30 days (October 31st). I vacated the property on October 31st and I asked him to keep my last month deposit as rent for the month of November ($2000) to mitigate his losses.

On December he contacted me and told me I need to pay rent for the month of December as he could not find a new tenant and I told him I cannot. So recently I received an email from him asking for my new address to send me a Small court claim or asked me to meet him in person (He attached the single page Affadivit of service(8A form) to the email) I responded him I will pick it up in-person in January 1st week as I'm unavailable now. Now he responded to the email that I have 20 days to defend the claim but I never received the copy of the claim.

Is this the legal way to confirm that I received the copy of plaintiffs claim? He is not responding to email when I requested the copy.

What are the chances of me winning the case in Small court? The defense I have is he did not give me the permission to assign the lease. (I genuinely tried to help him find a new tenant)

CNeufeld wrote: ↑ First, if I was you, I'd start by talking to the LTB.

Second, I don't think you've been properly served (although you're not very specific about how he "contacted" you). Until you've been served, nothing else can happen. How did he identify he served you on the 8A form? Is it accurate?

If you can get this dragged back into the LTB, it would probably be more in your favour. But considering you asked permission to assign the lease and he didn't respond, he doesn't have much of a leg to stand on (IMHO). You should clearly document all the steps you followed (with dates and types of communication clearly marked), and print off the relevant sections of the RTA to go along with your notes, so if it does come down to court, you can argue clearly that:
a) You asked for permission to assign your lease (multiple times), and didn't get a response
b) You have already provided financial compensation
c) You have ticked all the boxes in terms of the process required by the RTA

You should be able to win your case, from what you've said, even if what you've said isn't entirely clear. The details can make or break your case, and we're only reading your side of the situation.

C

wholesite wrote: ↑ Thank you for responding, I just picked the claim in person and he just mentioned that I broke the lease agreement and he is suing me for
1. 1 month of rent ($2000) + 2. $1850 for agent + 3. Difference in rent for 9 months ($1350) + Cleaning $280 (We returned condo sparkling clean) for a total of $5480. He did not mention anything about assigning the lease in the claim.

I have text message as a proof that he did not respond and email as a proof that he refused my lease assignment consent. I also have a video that shows the condo is returned clean.

CNeufeld wrote: ↑ Why did you do his work for him by picking up the claim in person? If you're not going to take the advice posted, why ask for it? Within 2 hours of your first post, 2 people told you not to reply to him or otherwise engage with him, and then you just went and served yourself.

My advice now... Talk to a lawyer or paralegal, and maybe you'll listen to someone you're paying for advice.

C

wholesite wrote: ↑ My bad. He was threatening me that his wife is a lawyer and within 20 days I need to defend the claim. I'm new to Canada and not aware of the rules here. I could not afford to lose my credit if the claim defaults. I'm trying to defend it now as you mentioned in the previous response I will mention all the RTA in my defense.

wholesite wrote: ↑ Thank you I will consult someone.

CNeufeld wrote: ↑ He's BS'ing you and trying to bully you into paying him. Stop reacting blindly, or you'll just make it worse. If you're unsure of what you're doing, hiring a professional is the safest route, even if it's not the cheapest.

C

rb wrote: ↑ Yes in ontario you have 20 days to respond otherwise he could note you in default, the LL also has an obligation to mitigate his loss,if he has made a loss because of the early termination you are responsible for that loss. A paralegal would probably cost 3k to 5k to fight this and probably best they could do is negotiate the sum down, I would look at his allegations and see if they are reasonable. Btw I don't think it affects your credit unless there is a judgement against you and you haven't paid in the allotted time.

wholesite wrote: ↑ Upon reading his claim he did not mention anything related to the lease assignment. He just mentioned I terminated the lease early and I have to pay him. I have emails as evidence to prove that he refused my lease assignment request and hence I gave him the N9 form. I also let him keep last month's deposit. Since he served me the claim already by bullying me I will move forward with defending the claim. I feel that I have enough evidence to dispute the claim after a bit of research. Thank you everyone!!

CNeufeld wrote: ↑ Was the 8A form filled out with a claim number on it?

ETA: And you should also follow up with the LTB. As I said, it may be in your best interest to have everything done within the LTB hearing system, as the LTB is much more tenant friendly (and understanding of tenants being bullied by landlords).

C

rb wrote: ↑ if he has made a loss because of the early termination you are responsible for that loss.

HghSsociety wrote: ↑ No He's not. The OP has clearly attempted to sublet the unit and was denied by the landlord. That in itself is a reason why the tenant can terminate the lease early. As per the RTA the tenant is within his rights to sublet and landlord can not unreasonably withhold their consent to sublet, which unless there is more to the story, the landlord did exactly that