Eviction Process - is this under the TPA (Tenant Protection Act)

[CompassGuy]

Hello to All -

With the successful bid on a tax sale property that is occupied (in Ontario), does this then fall under the Tenant Protection Act for Ontario?  i.e. do we have to go to the Sheriff's office immediately, or has anyone successfully negotiated some kind of tenancy agreement with existing residents (may be a dumb question)?

Does anyone have experience to share on this type of situation?

Thanks for any tips you can offer!
C.G.

[mwarrior]

Are the existing residents tenants or previous owners? If previous owners, then there is no "Landlord/Tenant relationship" and therefore no rights. You would goto the sheriff and ask for eviction. I'd suggest ask a lawyer on that one though.

IF they were tenants, you have to go though the LTB (used to be called ORHT) and get an order based on that.

Last option of course, you COULD just negotiate something to keep them there as tenants. Again, that depends on what you want to do with the property.

[CompassGuy]

Thanks for the tips.

They are residents, and yes, negotiating seems a little more humane than simply sending over the sheriff - so thanks for mentioning this option.

Have you dealt with this before?

[Pfm1011]

I personally would not keep them as tenants.  Firstly they cant pay their taxes, How will they pay their rent ??. Clearly they have shown they have no ability , or more likely , willingness to pay bills.

Secondly they will feel it is their house and you have screwed them and they will be hostile at best and will try to seek revenge on you by not paying and running you thru the legal system fighting eviction.

They will trash the house on the way out since you screwed them.  Everyday they stay in the house , they will forget that they are to blame for the loss and will turn the blame towards you, the "evil , land stealing, scumbag,  blood sucking  landlord

When you own  the house by tax sale, You have clear right to evict as they have no rights as  tenants. The minute you enter into the lease you give them rights and therefore screw yourself and will never get them out. The minute they sign the lease they easily have six months of delays . In addition they will have you fixing stuff daily and probably be completely nightmare tenants.

If they are real scum..they will trip in the house and sue you for damages as you clearly were negligent as the landlord. You have to bring the house up to standard , If you dont , you are liable. The courts will not care if they were the previous owner. You are the landlord and must meet the safety standards.

They lost the battle against the town, human nature says they will turn you into the enemy and have to win one against you. No one ever accepts they are to blame for their own plight.

If you want to show "mercy"  Give them 30 to 45 days to vacate but even then odds are they will trash the joint. Do not accept even a dollar for the extension as that will be deemed as a rental contract and therefore they are tenants. Remember you cant evict until you have registered the deed so they already have had 15 days since the sale(which they knew about for a year, minimum 4 years of non payment of taxes)

Best just to get a lawyer and have the court evict them forthwidth .  Nice guys finish last and if you want to feel better..You are helping them get on with their life by getting them out of something they clearly could not afford..You are doing them a favour..( tell yourself that enough and you may even start to believe it) 

 I was all concerned when I bid on a farm in Smith Falls.     Before I bid I am all concerned trying to think of how to deal with the family if I won as I am trying to be humane and was feeling sorry for the old owner as he clearly had simply fallen on bad times..etc etc

I do the title and execution search. Now the truth comes out.   Find out farm had been in the family for 30 or 40 years. Dad leaves it to his son.  Mortgage free!!!!  He sells of 100 acres and yet  he hasn't paid taxes in 15 or 20 years and  he has a judgement against him from the grain supplier. Clearly the grain store didn't just sue him, It would take years of non payment to actually get sued and no one would sue you if you made even an honest attempt to pay.   Never did a full credit check on this guy but I'm sure that would have been real messy as you have to be a real roach to have executions from suppliers.

My level of mercy went to zero . If a man doesn't pay taxes its one thing, But to screw the local suppliers.. No excuse for not paying bills.

The house redeemed so I didnt have to deal with it.

You have to remember that these people have had years to pay the taxes. The actual taxes owed is substantially less then the minimum bid as the city adds costs of the sale. I believe 30 %  is added without question.  Also if these people were broke they could have sold the land prior to the sale.

You decide , Do you want him as a tenant???  If you don't think you can be be truly merciless. I would suggest you simply do not bid on occupied properties.   In a case of a tax sale , I think showing any mercy will be your downfall and an absolute mistake.   There is nothing wrong with not being able to be merciless. Our rental houses are handled by a property management company for that exact reason. My wife couldnt put a family out on the street , She doesnt understand that if the rent isnt paid to us, we cant pay the mortgage, and therefore we are on the street ourselves.

Buy the house using a corporation, Evict using same. I personally do not want these people knowing who I am or where I live as you have no idea who they are or what they are capable of. Odds are they will not simply just walk away with their tail between their legs.  At a minimum expect a key job on your car if they know who you are.

The only option I would offer them is to sell them back the house discounted below market but still at a hefty profit for you. No VTB . If a bank wont finance them, why should you??? It probably a non starter as they clearly would have paid their taxes if they had that sort of money.

[Frank]

pfm1011

Couldn't have said it better myself.  As honest and decent as the occupants (former owner's) might look, and whatever hardship has befallen them...it has taken years to accumulate, and they still refuse to recognize the reality of their plight.  This is a real wake-up call to them, and you don't need to be part of the equation...tell them to get the f... out.

Don't forget to get the place insured as soon as you have the deed registered or you may be in for a bit of a shock.  Good idea to try to get in and get some pictures the moment that happens if not before (presumably you took some of the outside before the sale), and be in touch with the sherrif's office to have the eviction papers in place and ready to serve the day of deed registration, if possible. 

[CompassGuy]

Pfm1011 -

Thanks for your comments - you have persuaded me, and I will also use Frank's advice and tell them to get the F___ Out!

I really appreciate you sharing all of your experience - I would much rather learn here online, than learn the hard way after my property had been trashed.

C.G.

[Frank]

Hi , I tried to have my lawyer do my tile search on a property but my lawyer said he need the last owner of the home name, can you tell me what i can do in this matter, 42 allenbrooke Dr, toronto,on , Thank you

First thing you should do is get a new lawyer.  Then go to ontariotaxsales.ca  - they will sell you the title search on that property for $100

You don't need the owner's name to do a title search...that's where you find out their name, then you can do an execution search on their name.   Get a new lawyer.