Hurt on a Landlord's Property

Due to carelessness, negligence, or sometimes simple misfortune, people get hurt through accidents on apartment properties. The injuries may arise from dog bites (dogs owned by other tenants), slip and falls due to ice or snow, trips or falls caused by crumbling concrete, steps or walkways, or even injuries inside rental units due to neglect and lack of repair. If you or someone you know has suffered an injury inside a rental apartment or house--what can you do? The fact is that both a tenant and a landlord may be liable in tort for the injuries sustained by a guest. What is sometimes less clear is that a landlord may be liable for the injuries sustained by a tenant of that landlord if the injury is caused by the landlord's negligence and neglect. A landlord does not have any special protection from being sued simply by being in a landlord and tenant relationship---regardless of what the lease says! Given the serious consequences of suffering a personal injury (pain and suffering, loss of income, loss of future income, loss of earning capacity, special expenses including medical and medical assistive devices) it is important to explore all sources of compensation to help the injury victim get through the ordeal. My law-firm, located in Ottawa, Ontario, is considered a leading boutique personal injury law firm. This label "boutique" means that personal injury work is the primary focus of the firm. We currently have eight lawyers in the firm focusing exclusively on personal injury claims. Needing a personal injury lawyer in Ontario is actually less stressful than needing any other kind of lawyer from a financial perspective. Almost all personal injury matters are handled on a "don't pay unless you win basis" meaning there is no risk of having to pay us for services unless you win or settle your claim. Accordingly, it is worthwhile to get an opinion about injuries that happen on a landlord's property. Consultations are free and I would be pleased to hear from you. Michael K. E. Thiele Quinn Thiele Mineault Grodzki LLP Ottawa, Ontario 613-563-1131

Am I a tenant?

In the early days of this new school year we have seen many hundreds of students moving to the City. Carleton University and University of Ottawa students seemed to have a monopoly on all of the Uhaul trucks this past weekend as they were moving into new apartments and residences. WIth the great excitement of a new apartment sometimes comes an unfortunate realization that the "great" room mate is perhaps less than ideal. It is no surprise then, that the phones at Quinn Thiele Mineault Grodzki LLP have started to ring with some rather fundamental and basic questions about Landlord and Tenant law. Michael Thiele, one of the founding partners has extensive experience in residential landlord and tenant law and has been fielding and increasing number of questions in the last few days from students. Perhaps the most common question is about the respective rights of the people living in the apartment or house. There have been many inquiries from people who have signed a lease as the sole tenant with the clear understanding that they would be having room mates to help pay for the rent. As these tenants have discovered, the joy of collecting rent from room mates and the attitude of these room mates towards the condition, maintenance and repair of the property is often times below their own standards. The question, as these realities sink in, is what are the legal rights of everyone in the house or apartment. The relatively short answer is that the person named on the lease, as the tenant, is the person in control of the rental unit. That tenant has the sole power (amongst the occupants of the rental unit) to decide who stays, who goes, and when they go. The tenant identified in the lease as the "tenant", is responsible to the landlord for all of the rent, for any damage to the unit, and for ensuring that all of the obligations imposed under the Residential Tenancies Act are maintained (ex. ordinary cleanliness, noise, etc.). If the tenant's room mates do not pay, cause damage, are unruly, it is the tenant who will be responsible to the landlord to pay for those damages even if the tenant did not cause the damage or the tenant paid his or her "share" of the rent. Certainly, being the sole "tenant" on the lease carries with it great responsibility and liability. However, being the sole tenant is not necessarily a bad thing. If you are an assertive person and are able to maintain control over the rental unit, and you vet your room-mates carefully and you get them to sign a reasonable contract, you can have the benefits of having room mates (share rent) while limiting liability and risk. Under such circumstances, if a room mate does turn out to be a dud then you may require them to leave in short order in accordance with the terms of your agreement with them. A room mate does not have the protection of the Residential Tenancies Act as they are not a "tenant". Hence, you are not forced to put up with a room mate who might be a "nightmare". Getting rid of a room mate, who signed the lease as a "tenant" is much more difficult, if not impossible. For students with Landlord and Tenant questions you may find some answers to those questions by consulting with Michael Thiele, the University of Ottawa Student Legal Aid Clinic, the various community legal clinics in the City, or even the Ontario Landlord and Tenant Board website.

Welcome Back University & College Students

As the summer ends, the lawyers at Quinn Thiele Mineault Grodzki LLP, personal injury lawyers Ottawa, wish to welcome, and welcome back university and college students in the City. We count many students among our clients and we certainly have an interest in assisting any student in the area who needs our help. Respecting student safety the Ottawa Police, the City, and University officials are taking an active role. Starting next week, teams of officers, bylaw inspectors, representative from Action Sandy Hill and University of Ottawa and local councillors will be visiting areas with high student populations bringing them information about City bylaws and property standards. Take note that the Ottawa Police along with the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario have a new program called Community Alcohol Safety and Enforcement program (CASE) that will augment on-going inspection/enforcement efforts.Many of the calls received at QTMG LLP at the beginning of the school year involve Landlord and Tenant law issues. Mr. Thiele, one of the founding partners of QTMG LLP, is a recognized authority in residential landlord and tenant law matters.At Quinn Thiele Mineault Grodzki LLP we are always pleased to speak with anyone in need of legal help. Our telephone consultations are free of charge.

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: TENANT'S CONFERENCE

At Quinn Thiele Mineault Grodzki LLP, personal injury Ottawa lawyers, our clients are made up of all kinds of people from our community. As part of our community outreach, QTMG LLP lawyers seek out opportunities to provide free legal information to groups and organizations in need of help. Recently, Mr. Michael Thiele conducted a workshop at the Ottawa Tenant's Conference. The workshop, conducted by Mr. Thiele, at this year's conference was on maintenance issues within the residential complex and how to get them dealt with. In years past, Mr. Thiele as conducted workshops at this same Ottawa Tenant's Conference on the procedures of the Landlord and Tenant Board and how to represent oneself at a Board hearing to preserve a tenancy. How you may ask, is personal injury and landlord and tenant law intertwined? The fact is that many tenants suffer injuries on the grounds of their apartment complexes. The injury may be caused by the negligence of the landlord or even another tenant in the building. In these circumstances, QTMG LLP, is often asked to seek compensation on behalf of the injured tenant. Mr. Thiele is a leading lawyer in Eastern Ontario with respect to residential tenancies law. There isn't much that he has not dealt with in relation to landlord and tenant law as he represents both landlords and tenants in relation to all residential landlord and tenant issues. A relatively recent and interesting case that highlights the connection between personal injury law and landlord and tenant law is the case of Montgomery v. Van wherein the Ontario Court of Appeal held that a landlord can not escape the liability for injury caused by failed snow removal--- even if the landlord requires the injured tenant to be responsible for snow removal in their lease. The Court held that terms in a lease requiring the tenant to be responsible for maintenance are unenforceable being contrary to the provisions of the Residential Tenancies Act. If you have questions or issues relating to Ontario Landlord and Tenant Law you may wish to consider contacting Mr. Michael K. E. Thiele for a free consultation.

OTTAWA TENANTS CONFERENCE 2010

On September 25, 2010, Michael Thiele spoke at the annual Ottawa Tenant's Conference. This conference highlights issues that are facing residential tenants in Ontario but more specifically in Eastern Ontario. Mr. Thiele conducted a workshop that focused on Termination of Residential Tenancies. This workshop high-lighted the structure of a residential lease, the right of a tenant to continue a residential lease beyong a term, and that a residential lease may only be terminated by agreement between landlord and tenant or by a Notice of Termination as explicitly provided under the Residential Tenancies Act.

The workshop was very popular generating much discussion amongst the participants and unfortunately it only last an hour. A paper that was not available at the conference is available at the following link: https://files.me.com/pqtlaw/yjuqo7 (if this link is not active in your browser-cut and paste it). The paper entitled TENANCY TERMINATION PRIMER should also be available on the Ottawa Tenants Conference website which is located at www.ottawatenantsconference.ca . Inquiries to have a copy mailed to you may be made on the website as well.

Thank you all for those who attended it was nice to meet you and very informative for me as well.

Michael Thiele

Ontario Long-Term Care Homes Act

New Long-Term Care Homes Act now in effect

Ontario's new Long-Term Care Homes Act, 2007 (LTCHA) came into effect on July 1, 2010. The act states that "a long-term care home is primarily the home of its residents and is to be operated so that it is a place where they may live with dignity and in security, safety and comfort and have their physical, psychological, social, spiritual and cultural needs adequately met."

This act now supersedes other legislation governing long-term care homes, including the Charitable Homes Act, theHomes for the Aged and Rest Homes Act and the Nursing Homes Act.

The LTCHA has an expanded Residents' Bill of Rights, which recognizes the dignity of each resident and ensures a safe environment for each resident. The Residents' Bill of Rights also protects a resident's right to participate fully in the development, implementation, review and revision of his or her plan of care, including rights to

• give or refuse consent to any treatment, care or services for which his or her consent is required by law and to be informed of the consequences of giving or refusing consent,
• participate fully in making any decision concerning any aspect of his or her care, including any decision concerning his or her admission, discharge or transfer to or from a long-term care home or a secure unit and to obtain an independent opinion with regard to any of those matters, and
• have his or her personal health information within the meaning of the Personal Health Information Protection Act, 2004 kept confidential in accordance with that act, and to have access to his or her records of personal health information, including his or her plan of care, in accordance with that act.

As a mandatory requirement under the LTCHA, all licensed long-term care homes must establish a Residents' Council consisting only of residents of the home to help advise on matters relating to the home. In addition, all long-term care homes must establish a written policy to promote zero tolerance of abuse and neglect of residents.