Writing on behalf of a lovely couple that is reliant on ODSP, have a child, but who cannot afford to relocate. They are in dire need of advice on how to deal with a shitty landlord situation. I'm helping them out right now and am hoping/looking to hear from people that have any experience with going to the LTB and what that experience led to -- with respect to remedies that the LTB decided on, whether your landlord followed the decisions made by the LTB, and what the fallout with your landlord was (i.e. did it lead to you having to leave due to ongoing conflict). Moreover, has anyone ever succeeded in getting compensation from landlords in order to relocate from what has become either an uninhabitable home or an untenable landlord/tenant situation due to landlord inaction on maintenance issues. I am asking this because I don't want to provide advice to my friends without first hearing some first hand accounts of people that have taken their landlord to the LTB for similar issues.

This was a great tenant situation initially but has turned sour after a couple years of rental. My friends are great tenants, have always paid rent on time, and have taken care of the home as best as possible throughout. It's a 3 story country home, very low rent ($1400 utilities) which is a result of having started renting pre-pandemic, lots of outdoors space and on a river. They have 1 child, another one on the way, and would like to continue living in the rural community they're in as it's a great place to raise children. However, the living/tenant situation turned sour as soon as maintenance issues arose earlier this year in the springtime.

In order to avoid going into paragraphs of details I'll share simply that they (and lately with me helping them) have been attempting to deal with the landlord in an amicable/friendly manner for 4-6 months now. The repairs are of a serious nature ranging from holes in the home exterior which have allowed animals to inhabit the walls and ceilings during winter (haven't been repaired throughout summer and now they're making their way back in), front door that doesn't lock, basement flooding issues, and now recently discovered roof rotting. The roof rotting would likely explain the emergence of mosquitos inside the house in February when it was -20 outside! And now, just last week, we discovered that their hydro is being used without their knowledge/consent by seasonal renters. It seems that the landlord has hooked up trailers that he rents space to seasonally, and we have no idea who/what/how much of their utilities have been getting used all this time. They've also experienced harassment in the form of threats from contractors that the landlord hired to do some work this past summer. Harassment in the form of being shouted at and threatened by country bumpkin contractors that if they don't comply with the contractors timing and demands that they (the contractors) would call the building inspector and have the house condemned which would leave my friends homeless. Real classy contractors. My friends have put up with this treatment because it felt more important to them to take the high road and see repairs being done rather than deepening the conflict with the landlord and his contractors. With the recent hydro use/theft discovery, and the reality that fall is coming and the most important repairs (roof and exterior home/animal control issues) remain incomplete, my friends are at wits end and planning on going to the LTB.

There is a long documented history between them and the landlord about the issues, and many assurances given by the landlord over the months that the concerns and repairs will be dealt with. There is also no doubt that the landlord is in violation of many municipal and provincial codes...and we know that we can request inspection by the relevant authorities to boost the LTB claim if we wanted to go that route. The hesitation about going to the LTB though is that we don't know what the negative potentials may be here. There is no question that there are numerous reasonable and documented reasons to go to the LTB and file complaints which seek remedies for rent abatement and compensation on various issues. However, there also is no real information out there about what happens when/if the LTB makes decisions against landlords and the landlords don't abide by the decision. Specifically, we know that landlords can be fined or ordered to do work, etc...but there is little information out there about what the tenants experience is in these situations.

Anyone out here have experience with dealing with this kind of stuff? What happened with your landlord/tenant issue, how was it resolved, and did the LTB inflame or help quell the issues?

Thank you, kind redittors, for taking the time to read this and any experience you are able to offer would be greatly appreciated.