DEALING WITH A PROBLEM TENANT
Many of us have had frustrating experiences dealing with ‘difficult landlords’. However, an increasing number of tenants are also having bad experiences with ‘difficult tenants’. By far the most common complaint is ongoing excessive noise at all hours of the day and night by inconsiderate tenants. Blaring or loud music (including loud TVs and radios) and partying at all hours is a common complaint as are noisy domestic disputes. ‘Noisy tenants’ are insensitive and inconsiderate and have no appreciation of how to live in a community and can seriously interfere with your quality of life.
Some tenants who do ‘shift work’ and get home from work after midnight can be inconsiderate. They do not take into account that they are seriously disturbing the sleep of tenants living in the units below or adjacent as they move around noisily on hardwood floors when tenants are asleep. In this technological age some tenants might be working from home on computers and are not mindful of the noises they create especially during late evening or early morning hours. One tenant we spoke with described the problem as a ‘noise pandemic’ in some buildings.
Overcrowded units that have no carpeting on the floors are a source of excessive noise. There are some tenants who do vacuuming much too early in the morning or very late at night and disturb their neighbour’s sleep. Thoughtless tenants who drag furniture or stomp around also contribute to excessive noise problems that continually disturb other tenants’ peace and quiet. A few pieces of inexpensive carpetting from local department stores would go a long way in reducing excessive noise. It has been well-documented by medical professionals that ongoing sleep deprivation can result in significant damage to your health and cause lasting problems to your overall wellbeing. Tenants should not treat noise violations lightly.
Clearly there is a need to address the issue of whether buildings intended for residential housing are meeting adequate soundproof standards. If the ‘soundproof insulation’ in these buildings is inadequate then that deficiency is a contributing factor to the excessive noise problem that creates conflicts between tenants and landlords. The municipal and provincial levels of government need to re-examine the issue of adequate ‘soundproofing’ standards with regard to residential buildings in the future.
Carpetting in heavily trafficked areas of a unit can minimize or eliminate excessive noises and help reduce tensions and conflicts between tenants. Landlords should emphasize this to tenants at the signing of the lease agreement.
NOTE: The Municipal Licensing and Standards bylaw Chapter 591 Noise contains a general prohibition that
prevents persons from making, causing or permitting any noise, at any time, which is likely to disturb the quiet, peace, rest, enjoyment, comfort or convenience of the inhabitants of the City”.
Check the City of Toronto Municipal Licensing & Standards link for more detailed information on the Chapter 591 Noise bylaw.
Leases and tenancy agreements contain a similar clause . . . .
The tenant shall not cause or permit or suffer any noise or interference which is disturbing to the comfort or reasonable enjoyment of the rental premises by the Landlord or any other tenant.”
Tenants have also told us of being subjected to verbal abuse, rude and threatening behaviour, throwing lighted cigarettes and other objects over or on their balcony. Non-smoking tenants are upset when their neighbours smoke on the balcony and they can’t enjoy their own balcony due to the cigarette smoke that drifts over. The smoking issue is a touchy area and you should check our post Smoke Free Housing for municipal regulations on this issue.
Some tenants use an excessive amount of water to wash their balcony and do not take into account that the water flows down to the balcony below. Tenants who allow their pets to use the balcony as a toilet to urinate also use a lot of water to wash their balcony. As you can imagine that ongoing excessive amount of water dripping on to the balcony below would be most exasperating and unpleasant for the tenant below. That behaviour comes under the category of ‘interfering with your enjoyment of the building’.
A normal activity such as using the garbage chute can disturb tenants especially at unreasonably early hours in the morning. In particular, tenants in buildings with inadequate soundproofing who dispose of their garbage by forcefully opening and slamming the lid to the garbage chute will create clattering noises that impact the peace and quiet of other tenants on several floors. Why would any tenant use the garbage chute at 2: 00 or 3:00 am in the morning?
NOTE: Hoarding and fire safety risks – Scavengers who hoard massive amounts of discarded items and store them in their units increase the risk of accidentally starting a fire that might spreads to other units. That could possibly endanger lives of residents in other units.
Although complaints to the landlord and/or mediation between the tenants might alleviate the problems, there are occasions where an offending tenant would either ignore the complaint or make things worse. The offending tenant might even accuse you of harassment if you complain about their bad behaviour to the landlord. Some tenants who complain about a noisy tenant in the unit above them are subjected to even more noise as the offending tenant would retaliate by ‘rolling a very heavy object’ on the floor above very late at night. Many tenants have suggested that the landlord is an accomplice in the ‘rolling a very heavy object’. This behaviour by offending tenants or landlord must not be tolerated and should be dealt with in a manner similar to the process for any other violations. Also, if your complaint is successful at the Landlord and Tenant Board the landlord might spread false rumours that you are a difficult tenant and some tenants in your building will give you the cold shoulder.
Remember – you pay rent for your residence and must not allow another tenant, the landlord or the landlord’s agent to interfere with your enjoyment of the building.
WHAT TO DO IF THE PROBLEM PERSISTS
If the problem persists after you have made numerous written complaints to the landlord you should file a Form T2 against the landlord and ask for financial compensation and request that the landlord pay a fine for the violation. This violation is referred to as ‘interfering with your enjoyment of the building’.
It is always better to make written complaints rather than talking with your landlord about the problem. You should also avoid confrontations with the offending tenant as this might be interpreted as harassment. In a worse case scenario a problem tenant might react violently when confronted about their inconsiderate behaviour. If you decide to submit a complaint to the Landlord and Tenant Board it will be your word against that of the Landlord and the offending tenant. Whether or not you choose to remain in your building or to move out is entirely up to you but you can still file a form T2 and ask for compensation for ‘interfering with your enjoyment of the building. You should also visit our link T2 Application for additional information and tips on how to complete this form.
Tips on filing a Form T2
- Attach written records documenting all dealings with the landlord about the complaint. This record should consist of copies of complaint letters, a complaints log (or journal) that details all occurrences of a violation, all the person-to-person discussions and/or phone conversations with the landlord and must include dates and times of contact with the landlord.
- Sample Complaint letter – https://eastyorktenantsgroup.com/residential-tenancy-act/repairs-and-maintenance-complaints/complaint-letters/. Feel free to modify the letter so that it can be applied to your particular complaint or problem.
- If you are not comfortable with your English language skills you should have an interpreter assist you at the Landlord and Tenant Board hearing
You should visit the Landlord and Tenant Board website to download a copy of the T2 the application at this link:
http://www.sjto.gov.on.ca/ltb/forms-filing/#tenant-forms
Note – the Landlord and Tenant Board only takes into account events that occurred in the previous 12 months. Therefore you should not delay too long in filing the T2 application.
It is highly recommended you maintain detailed documentation of the violation(s) since the landlord and/or offending tenant might deny everything even though you are telling the truth.
Finally, for the handful of irresponsible tenants who engage in all kinds of unlawful or objectionable behaviour, cause wilful damage to their unit or the premises, or leave debris lying around etc., please stop this. It is your home and that behaviour reflects badly on all of us.
For information on how landlords can deal with problem tenants check this Landlord and Tenant Board website link: http://www.sjto.gov.on.ca/ltb/forms-filing/#tenant-forms
The bottom line is that as tenants we have to acknowledge that we are living in a community where we have to share the amenities of a building. It is a community where we have to live in close proximity with each other. Hence we all need to be more considerate and sensitive to fellow tenants if we are to enjoy the quality of life we want.
East York Tenants Group 
The most informative response. I actually feel better knowing I am not the only one suffering under rude insensitive creeps. Unfortunately the response was from Canada and I live in the US.
Thanks for your thoughtful words, Ro_R. I should have mentioned in my first post that two of the three noisy neighbours have moved out, but no thanks to the landlord. He didn’t evict them. Unfortunately, my upstairs neighbour must be out of his mind. It sounds like he’s moving out everyday. Scraping, dragging, thumping, pounding, banging, rumbling, for up to three hours. It sounds like bowling balls have tumbled out across the floor. It’s drastic. My light fixtures rattle and my floor vibrates. Sometimes it makes me jump and triggers a panic attack– something that I already have a problem with. Even listening to music on headphones doesn’t help because it vibrates in the floor and I’ve even been startled just by the sensations in my feet. There is a gym in the floor below me but on the opposite side of the hallway. The super said, one time when I said the thumping was hurting my head, literally, that it was someone running on the treadmill. I said, “Well that proves it’s not a soundproof building.” That noise is someone running on a treadmill below me? Seriously? It’s going to be difficult to get the supers to stop coming up with explanations for my upstairs neighbour’s noise by saying that it’s not him.
My landlord is building an eight story apartment being right in front of my building, something which he neglected to tell me. I had met him in person before I moved in and had told him I was anxious to get into his building because of the soundproofing as I am intolerant of noisy neighbours. It’s worse when you are in poor health and basically homebound. I only go out for a few hours about three or four times a week because it’s such a hassle being in public in a wheelchair. that means I hardly ever get a break form the noise. I can’t even go out for awhile to get away from it. The construction started four months after I moved in. I told the landlord I was very angry he had not warned me and he said it was not his obligation to tell me I was about to move into a construction site! First there was three weeks of dynamite blasting the bedrock. But far worse was an industrial pneumatic jackhammer going DU DU DU DU DU, shaking the whole building and pounding in my ears (sometimes I had to cover them) seven hours a day, five days a week, for ten weeks. I know I’ve gone off topic a bit but it was to illustrate how bad the noisy from the site is because the super is using that as an explanation to.
When I told the super there was an incredibly loud noise coming from my neighbour, he said it was the construction site. I have a “log book” that I am using to write down the date and time when these noise marathons happen and as soon as the new building is finished I am going to consider dealing with it. I hesitate because I have had this backlash at other apartments. Sometimes, when a tenant knows you’ve complained they get revenge. Things like one really big BOOM! every hour or so. The super will never “catch them in the act” and they know it. As well, the tenant may move out because he doesn’t want to be in a building where a complainer is cramping his style and someone even worse could move in.
(big sigh…) 😦
Previous posts here are two years old but I wish to comment anyway. I live in Halifax, not Toronto and we have no T2 form to file with the Nova Scotia Residential Tenancies Board. In fact, there is absolutely nothing the Tenancy Board can or does do about noisy tenants. I moved into my current apartment because the ad said exactly, “Superior soundproofing with double-ceiling construction.” I thought, finally, I will be free from the hell of constant noise I’ve endured for years at every other place. It turned out to be the noisiest place I’ve ever lived in. Repeated complaints in writing were not dealt with. Eventually the landlord became abusive, once bawling me out in front of the super for 45 minutes, making inappropriate comments about my disability (I’m in a wheelchair) and about my social life. I have a lot of health problems and was told that I’m obviously too sick to live in the normal environment of an apartment building to which I replied, “That’s why I moved into a soundproof one, or so I thought.” The landlord even offered me $1000 to move out! I have been hoping to move out but wheelchair accessible buildings with rents I can afford are very rare in Halifax, so here I am stuck. Recently a large window in my unit cracked because the landlord failed to inform me he noticed there was a problem with the window covering I had put up– it was directly against the glass and caused it to overheat. He claims I was told to remove it but I wasn’t and now I’m off to the Tenancy Board because he expects me to reimburse him for the cost of replacement: $787.75. What a piece of !@#$% he is!
It was very disturbing to read about your awful experience trying to resolve the noise issue. I have been through something similar and am thankful that we in Ontario have legislation and regulations to address those violations. But despite the legislation and regulations it can be a very harrowing and challenging process dealing with the Landlord and Tenant Board.The landlords tell lies and distort facts. Contact your local councillor and also your MPP for help.
I commented on this some time ago but did not pay sufficient attention to the effectiveness of the municipal noise bylaw when talking about soundproofing. Seems to me that developers and builders focus more on profit margins and not as much on constructing soundproof buildings. The municipal and provincial government regulations for future residential housing developments should include a ‘soundproof ‘ standard for insulated walls and hardwood floors that will not weaken or diminish the noise bylaw. That would go far in reducing the noise complaints and conflicts generated between tenants and landlords. Hence, the tenant’s quality of life is not compromised.
Just my thoughts….
Ro-R
Nowadays there is such a big nuisance with noisy tenants. ‘Noise pandemic’ is the right words you used to describe the noise in apartment building. Pity we don’t have a vaccine for that. Seems that tenants today don’t give a hoot about who they inconvenience. My building has many extended families (4 and 6 individuals and including dogs) living in 1 and 2 bedroom apartments and the noise is unbearable all day and night. They refuse to put even put down a few bits of carpeting here and there. When you complain to the Super or the Landlord they get angry and hostile with you and imply that you are overreacting. Checked with Municipal inspector and was told that it is a violation of the noise bylaw when it interferes with your life. I was advised to file a complaint with the Landlord board. That is such a hassle. Why can’t the landlords get these tenants to stop their annoying behaviour? And why are buildings not more ‘noise proof’? Is there anything very simple a tenant do to fix this?
Thanks so much for this blog…we are at a loss at what to do with our noisy neighbor tenants.. we are sleep deprived since they moved in in Dec 2008.. constantly awaken from our sleep at all sort of hours(midnight to about 4:30 am)..we share a balcony with our troublesome neighbors..to make the matter worst our master bedroom is off this balcony..for a while we let it slide for we know and understand the perils of moving but we did not anticipate this will continue to the way it is today..we were told that all we can do is file a written formal complaint and the landlords would address the issues at hand…we have written 2 formal complaints but there seemed to be nothing that has been done to ratify with the issues we face..as a side comment we also told to take the matters into our own hands and call the police on them…the problem being is by the time the police comes ,they would have finish their smoking outside and talking loudly…we wanted to know how many written formal complaints we need before we can file for the T2 application..?
thanks so much
Thank you so much for writing about the annoying issue of ‘difficult tenants’. We hear so much about these awful landlords but bad tenants can be a terrible nightmare too. Just imagine a tenant would lock a large and noisy dog in a bathroom during day or evening when he had to go out! As for me, I had an awful experience with extremely noisy and troublesome tenants that lasted for over a year. I was constantly woken from a sound sleep well after midnight and had to put up with all kinds of noises (drilling, hammering, sanding and thumping around) on a daily and nightly basis. Aside from being insensitive, this tenant was into some kind of business that involved building or repairing stuff intended for sale. The landlord gave me the run around for months as they had a friendly relationship with that tenant so did not take my written complaints seriously. And it was a total waste of time contacting those organizations that encouraged mediation between tenants. Troublesome tenants very seldom change their ways, if ever. So I filed a T2 and took the landlord to the Landlord and Tenant Board and won my case and was awarded financial compensation. It wasn’t easy as both the landlord and tenant told blatant lies. Although I am a long-time tenant and have a very good history of being an excellent tenant by paying rent on time, not destroying property or annoying other tenants the landlord was hoping that I would move. The reason is that my monthly rent was almost $200 lower than other tenants living in similar sized units in the building and the landlord could not raise my rent above the legal rate unless I moved. I am still living in the apartment with no plans to move yet but will one of these days.
I too will be asking for compensation as I have already been to the Board and was silly to think that simply going there would stop the harassment but it hasn’t.
How does one determine the $$ compensation to request?
Thanks and keep standing up for your Rights!!
Adrianna
To Andie:
Re. Your question about calculating compensation on the T2 application
You can calculate the compensation by totalling the number of days you were harassed and multiply that total by the cost of one day’s rent. It will simplify things if you kept a written log of all the unpleasant encounters with the offenders. Another option is to simply ask for a lump sum but you need to explain how you arrived at the amount you are requesting. Depending on the number of months you were harassed you can ask for compensation that amounts to 2-3 months rent. Don’t forget that in addition to requesting compensation for ‘interference with your enjoyment of the building’ you can also request that the Landlord pay a fine to the Board for the violation.
Hope you find this helpful.