Stockwoods lawyers Brendan van Niejenhuis and Justin Safayeni successfully obtained summary judgment in a class action against the City of Toronto, in a decision of Justice Perell released today. The case alleges that the City of Toronto was negligent when it failed to send rooming house tenants notices that their rent was required to be reduced. The rent reductions were a consequence of the rooming houses’ owners having received substantial property tax reductions, because of their participation in a Pilot Project intended to improve regulatory compliance by rooming house landlords in the Parkdale area. Justice Perell agreed that the City of Toronto owed the Parkdale tenants a duty of care, and that by failing to notify them of the rent reductions, the City had breached the standard of care. The individual issues, including compensation for individual tenants, will be decided in a separate process.
To read the decision, click here. To see the Toronto Star’s coverage of the case, click here.
