Sapershteyn v 1821317 Ontario Limited

Tenant wins · Toronto · 2023-10-31

Adjudicator

Sutherland J.

Dispute

Illegal Rent Increase

Landlord

1821317 Ontario Limited, Group D Investments Inc.

Tenant

S.S., S.A., S.E., R.K., K.G., N.R., A.K., T.W., A.W.

Landlord rep

Joe Hoffer, Kevin Kok

What happened

Tenants applied to the Landlord and Tenant Board seeking a determination that the Residential Tenancies Act applied to their units and that the landlord had collected illegal rent increases and HST. The Board ruled in favor of the tenants, ordering the landlord to repay the illegal rent. The landlord appealed the Board's decision to the Divisional Court, arguing that section 135.1 of the RTA should have prevented the Board from ordering repayment.

The ruling

The Divisional Court dismissed the landlord's appeal of the Landlord and Tenant Board's decision ordering repayment of illegal rent increases. While the court found the Board erred in characterizing the purpose of section 135.1 of the RTA, it held that the Board did not err in its interpretation of 'finally determined' or in its application of the law to the facts. The court deferred to the Board's expertise in determining that there was a final determination of the rent increase validity before July 21, 2020, which meant section 135.1 did not apply to prevent repayment.