中英对照：为何房东和房客均对安省房屋出租法的改革不满？

十年前，我给自己买了套公寓，准备将其出租几年后自己退休时住。几年来，我共有过5个租客，也因此两次上租客委员会，与房客对薄公堂。为此，我得出了与其他许多房东同样的结论：租客委员会总是胳膊肘向着租客，在那里抱怨委员会对房东不公无济于事。

When I purchased an apartment a decade ago in preparation for my eventual retirement, I decided to rent it out for a few years until I am ready for occupancy. This venture involved over 5 different tenants over the years and I found myself in front of the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) twice. I came to the conclusion like many other landlords – the LTB works for the tenant and the playing field is not level for all players.



我涉及的第一个案例是，租客虽然签了一年的租约，但两个月后便走人了。为了弥补将公寓再次上市找租客和租客突然终止租约所带来的租金损失，我不得不把该租客告上小额索赔法庭。问题是，在小额法庭受理之前，我得先去租客委员会告租客的状。时间一天天过去，我等了很长时间租客委员会才审理我的案子。由于房客没有露面，我自然得到了对我有利的判决。

My first case involved a tenant walking away after two months into the one year rental agreement. In order to recover my losses of having to put the apartment up for leasing on the market again and loss of revenue during that period, I have to file a claim at the small claims court. Before I can do that, I need to go to the LTB to get a judgement. After much delay, the trial day was set and since the tenant did not show up it became an open and shut case in my favour.

第二次上租客委员会就不那么顺利了。我的租客在租约期满搬出后，把一遍狼藉的公寓留给了我，而且没有归还钥匙。我试图扣留租客交给我的“清洁押金”和“钥匙押金”，结果租客却把我告上租客委员会。法官告诉我，“清洁押金”的做法非法，即使房地产经纪人将其写入租约，且租客已经支付了清洁押金。

It was not as easy the second time. When another tenant left the apartment in a mess after the lease is over and left without returning the keys, I tried to withhold the “cleaning deposit” and the “key deposit” and was summoned to the LTB. I was told by the judge that “cleaning deposits” are illegal even through the real estate agent put that into the lease and collected the amount.



而“钥匙押金”只能是配钥匙的钱。由于我收的钥匙押金远超过配钥匙的钱，结果我还得向房客全部退还钥匙押金，而房客却没有把钥匙还给我。我不但没有从房客那里拿回一分钱，而且还得自己掏腰包去换锁。

A “key deposit” can only be an amount equivalent to the cost of the replacement of keys. Since the amount collected earlier was more than the replacement cost, I have to return the entire deposit. The ex-tenant got to keep my keys and I did not recover a single penny! On top of that, I have to expend more funds to change the locks.

这些仅仅是我做房东的个人经历。我还听到了其他房东所遇到的许多可怕故事。最多的是房东在收不到租金时驱逐房客的问题。目前，房东驱赶房客必须得到租房委员会庭审后同意才行。由于房客和那些帮助租客的律师助理会拖延上庭时间，拖几个月上庭，房东只会损失更多的租金。多年来，人们强烈要求对租房委员会进行改革，但倾左的安省自由党根本就不管这事。

These are my personal experiences but I have heard many other terrible stories from landlords. One of the major concerns is the execution of an eviction of tenants when rent is not paid in full. In the past, this cannot happen without going through a LTB hearing. Procedural delays are exercised by the tenant and paralegal teams resulting in further losses for the landlord even if eviction is granted months later. There were outcries to shake up and reform the LTB over the years but nothing has happened under the left wing provincial Liberal Party.



目前的安省保守党政府提出了《保护租客和加强社区住房法》的184号法案。该法案已经在省议会通过二读，并交给了省立法委员会审议。保守党政府表示，新法将“加强对房客的保护，加快解决房东和房客的纠纷”。

Bill 184, officially titled the Protecting Tenants and Strengthening Community Housing Act, has passed second reading at Queen's Park and is now before a legislative committee. The Ontario Conservative government says it will "strengthen protections for tenants and make it easier to resolve landlord and tenant disputes.”

根据184号法案，当租客拖欠租金时，无需经过租房委员会，房东和房客可以自己达成一个可强制执行的还款协议。但该还款协议仍需要得到租房委员会的批准才能执行。

Under Bill 184, when a tenant is behind on rent, they can now enter into an enforceable repayment agreement with their landlord without oversight from an LTB adjudicator. If an agreement is reached during that process, the agreement must still be submitted to the LTB for approval, and if approved, the board would then issue a consent order.



即使委员会批准还款协议的有效性，但如果租客认为自己是被房东所迫而签署了还款协议，他们则有30天的时间对该协议提出上诉。另外，即使租客提供了还款计划，他们仍然有权要求开庭听证。如果租客违法了还款协议的条款，他们可能会被驱逐而无需上庭。

After a consent order is issued, a tenant has 30 days to appeal the order if they feel they were pressured into the agreement. And, if a tenant is offered a repayment plan, they still have a right to a hearing. If the tenant fails to meet the repayment agreement’s terms, they can be subject to an eviction without a hearing.

省政府声称该法案的目的是加快驱逐租客的过程，并称新法鼓励房东和租客共同努力达成还款协议，而不是把房客赶出门。

The provincial government claims that the intention of the bill is to speed up the eviction process. They want to encourage landlords and tenants to work together to come up with repayment agreements — rather than resorting to evictions (when rent is overdue.)

到目前为止，该法案似乎并没有平息房东与房客之间的分歧。房客及其支持者强烈抗议此法案，而房东的拥护者们说，新法案还不足以解决他们的担忧。

So far, the bill seems to have satisfied nobody on either side of the landlord-tenant divide. It has sparked loud protests by tenants and their supporters in recent days, while advocates for landlords say the legislation doesn't go far enough to address their concerns.

下次，我们将分析为何房客和房东对新法案不满，以及新法案对租客驱逐过程的改革。

Next time, we will look into the reasoning from malcontent participants and some of the other details of this new tenant eviction process.