'It's not justice, it's efficiency': Critics slam online landlord-tenant hearings

Dezerae Sturgeon had hoped her hearing at the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) would be a fair legal process that would stop her  — along with her mother and nine-year-old daughter — from being evicted from their home of eight years. 

Instead she found herself in a confusing tribunal. The proceedings, conducted via video chat, left her feeling tricked into agreeing to leave her apartment at 92 King Edward Ave. in London. 

"I did not understand it, I didn't have a mediator in the room," said Sturgeon. "It was not right. It was shady, that's for sure." 

Sturgeon has lived in her apartment for almost nine years. For most of that time, she's had a good relationship with property managers. The rent is $952 for a two-bedroom apartment in the south London complex, which includes seven three-storey walkups and one six-storey apartment building. 

As CBC News reported last week, the building was sold in February 2021. Shortly after the sale, many tenants began to receive N5 notices which state a landlord's intention to proceed with an eviction. 

The complex's owner and property management company have not responded to CBC's request for an interview. 

Sturgeon said she tried to resolve the issue out of court but was scheduled for an online LTB hearing on Dec. 9, 2021.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the province moved LTB hearings online via video conferencing. In December, they announced a plan to make online hearings permanent, touting it as a way toward "efficient and accessible dispute resolution." 

But Sturgeon said the process was confusing and unfair.

She waited more than four hours on the phone for the tribunal to begin. Then, she was given a brief consultation with a legal aid representative and moved into an online meeting which she thought would include an adjudicator. But Sturgeon says the meeting quickly shifted to another video meeting. 

"We went into the room and little did I know it was just me and the landlord, no mediator, nobody else, you know, helping or listening," she said. "There was no solution. His solution was to get everybody out of this building."

When the video conference moved back to the room with the adjudicator, Sturgeon says she was told she had verbally agreed to move out and the hearing was over. Days later, she received documents in the mail stating she would need to leave her apartment by the end of April, something she says she did not agree to.

"I felt tricked," said Sturgeon. "I felt manipulated." 

Sturgeon's story came as no surprise to Ian Dantzer, a lawyer who works with Community Legal Services at Western University Law, where he's represented clients at many video tribunals.