Ontario man gets house back after LTB evicts troublesome tenants, leaving thousands in damages

After waiting months for a hearing with the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) to evict tenants from his property, a Tillsonburg, Ont., man says he finally has his house back. Still, he's left with thousands of dollars worth of damages, some alleged stolen items and unpaid rent. 

At the Aug. 29 hearing, the LTB ruled in favour of the landlord, Kelvin Edmondson, and ordered to terminate the tenancy because the tenants did not pay the rent they owed, according to Tribunals Ontario documents obtained by CBC News. 

Last month, Edmondson told CBC News that he was sleeping on a couch in his realtor's basement while awaiting the hearing to remove tenants who neglected to pay rent and caused damage to his home by housing a number of pets against their initial agreement. 

The LTB order states that the tenants were to vacate the property by Sept. 7 and pay Edmondson a total of $5,000, including rent and compensation for living in the house until they move out, which he says he still hasn't received and doesn't expect to either. 

However, Edmondson said the tenants didn't move out till the morning of Sept. 9 and police were required to make sure they left the premises. 

"The cops didn't have to do that for me, but if they didn't, I'd still right now be waiting for the sheriff to come so I can get into my house. I didn't want to wait another three weeks," he said. 

As per a court order, if the tenants didn't move by Sept. 8 at the latest, the local police sheriff would have to get involved to evict them. But Edmondson said the sheriff in his area wouldn't be available until Sept. 29. 

Edmondson spent the two days at his neighbour's house with his realtor and her partner to ensure the tenants left as they agreed to. He also alleges they stole nearly $3,000 worth of items from the house but is not filing a police report. 

"You don't even want to know what they left behind," he said. "I'm still cleaning up, and I can't move in yet because there's still bugs and urine. They moved out on Friday last week, and I'm still trying to tidy up the place."

Edmondson said he's had to replace the floors in his bedroom, which were permanently stained with dog urine from pets kept in the room, he said.

Although he said the tenants owed him nearly $13,000, Edmondson says that he agreed on a $5,000 amount simply because he just wanted them out of his house. 

"It was pointless to keep trying, and I'm not going to waste more time. I'd rather just lose it because they're not going to pay me; they couldn't even pay their rent," he said. "I wrote that money off a long time ago. My priority was to just get them out."

Due to the whole ordeal, Edmondson said he's had to quit his job working on a cruise ship in the Caribbean. To help make his mortgage payments and other bills, he said his best friend had to lend him money. 

Edmondson says he plans to sell the house after the repairs are complete. But until then, he's still sleeping on his realtor's couch, calling this situation a nightmare.