What if someone’s landlord is threatening to evict them?

General Rule: A landlord cannot evict your client without obtaining an Eviction Order from the Landlord and Tenant Board.

If your client’s landlord is trying to evict them, ask them how they found out about it:

1. If they have received official paperwork from the Landlord and Tenant Board
   • It is important to identify if this paperwork is a Notice of Termination, an Application to Evict a Tenant, A Notice of Hearing, an Eviction Order, a Sheriff’s Notice to Vacate, etc. Depending on the type of paperwork, there may be steps which can be taken to protect their housing.
2. If your client received a written eviction note, an email or was provided verbal notice of eviction, this is insufficient, and they are not required to move out. Even if they have received an official Notice of Termination from their landlord, they don’t need to move out. An Eviction Order from the Landlord and Tenant Board is required before they are forced to move out.

How You Can Help:

• Step 1: If your client is unsure as to why they are being evicted, ask them some key questions:
  • Have they been keeping up with rent payments?
  • Have the police recently been to their apartment?
  • Have they recently been charged with a crime? Did this crime happen in their apartment, in their apartment building or around the property?

If your client answers yes to any of these questions, they might be at risk of eviction. If so, remind them that it is against the law for landlords to evict someone or lock them out without first getting an Eviction Order. 

If they have not received an Eviction Order, they do not need to move out yet.

• Step 2: Help your client identify what stage of the eviction process they are in, if any. They can also contact the Landlord and Tenant Board to see if a hearing has been scheduled. 
  • See: “Stages of Eviction”
• Step 3: If your client says their landlord has evicted them, ask them if they have received any paperwork (including emails) from the Landlord and Tenant Board.
  • If so, help them identify where they are in the legal eviction process and support them as appropriate. 
    • See: “Stages of Eviction”
  • If not, tell them that it is against the law for landlords to evict someone or lock them out without first getting an Eviction Order. They don’t need to move out until they receive this order.