Litigation

Can this *&$@*# collection agency do this? What are my rights? In Ontario, collection agencies must be registered with the Government of Ontario and must follow the rules set out in Ontario’s Collection and Debt Settlement Services Act. When a collection agency contacts you to collect money that you may owe or when you can’t pay […]

New Ontario legislation now allows ex parte (i.e., without any notice) eviction orders, allowing landlords to obtain an eviction order without appearing before the Landlord and Tenant Board (the “LTB”). Firstly, with Bill 184, the Protecting Tenants and Strengthening Community Housing Act, when a tenant is behind on rent, they can now enter into an enforceable repayment

Many commercial landlords do not realize – if you are owned rent by your tenant, you must choose between locking the doors/distraining and termination of the lease. You cannot do both. You must choose: either distraint or terminate and sue for unpaid rent. In this case, the plaintiff tenant and defendant WM and Buckingham (landlord)

So, you endured the litigation process and received a judgment. But you’re not happy with it, as many experience. Statistically, most cases are never appealed and those that are face a high hurdle. However, some succeed, of course, clarifying the law or potentially overturning the decision of the lower, trial Court. The obvious appeals involve

The Ontario government is increasing fines for unlawful evictions and reinforcing the necessity for landlords to explore repayment agreements before considering evictions. These measures are included in the Protecting Tenants and Strengthening Community Housing Act, which was passed today. The legislation, which updates the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 and Housing Services Act, 2011, will make it easier to resolve

Defamation has two forms: libel (written words) and slander (spoken words). For a defamation case, a person must prove: 1.            the words at issue were defamatory (meaning they would negatively impact the person’s reputation in the eyes of a reasonable person); 2.            the words, in fact, referred to the person complaining about those words;

In Ontario, unlike any other jurisdiction to my knowledge, we’ve made the act of saying “sorry” part of our legal system, for which there are legal ramifications, both for saying it and for not saying it. In fact, we’ve made it legislation; namely, Ontario’s “Apology Act” (the “Act”). This is uniquely an Ontario-only legal initiative.

The Ontario government is focusing more on balancing  the safety and security of farmers, their families and the provincial food supply by protecting the right for people to participate in lawful protests on public property. Today, Bill 156, the Security from Trespass and Protecting Food Safety Act, 2020, received Royal Assent. Once proclaimed into force, the Act

Cyber-bullying by engaging in social media attacks can mean paying significant damages to the target of the vitriol. In a recent Canadian case, a former husband engaged in a lengthy campaign of cyber-bullying against his former spouse, primarily to intimidate her in their custody proceeding in Family Court. The Court said, “This campaign took the form