Landlord must consider disability before evicting, Ontario court rules.

TORONTO -- A landlord has a duty to accommodate a tenant with a disability and the Ontario Rental Housing Tribunal must consider the Ontario Human Rights Act, when deciding an eviction notice appeal.

Not only is there a duty to accommodate the tenant under Section 17 of the Ontario Human Rights Act, the tribunal should have considered whether the landlord met that duty before issuing the eviction order.

The ruling arises out of an appeal of an eviction notice by a woman with schizophrenia who had been living in her apartment for several years.

Supported by her family she was able to live independently when she was on medication. The landlord issued the notice after complaints from neighbours that she had been screaming loudly on several occasions over a period of months.

Several weeks later, following complaints by other residents about shouting and leaving garbage in the hallways the landlord then issued a second notice

The woman's family had her hospitalized and her condition stabilized. However, the landlord was determined to evict her and the Tribunal gave its approval.

The tenant appealed the ruling. Her lawyer claimed that the landlord had a duty to accommodate the tenant by contacting her family when the problems first emerged. The landlord on the other hand argued, among other positions, that the tenant should be in specialized housing.