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Toronto company provides "property protectors" (tenants without tenancy rights) to property owners seeking to avoid vacancy tax (www.blogto.com)

submitted 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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The gist of the Guardian Angels service is that they assign a 'property protector' who will inhabit your property free of charge," which saves the owner from paying vacant property taxes

The service also promises that its "property protectors" are prevented from "acquiring any tenancy rights" in homes they inhabit.

Guardian Angels Property states on its website that it provides these services to clients complimentary.

blogTO reached out to the company, and a representative confirmed that the business model is based on these so-called property protectors — who lack tenant rights — paying Guardian Angels Property to stay in these units.

landlord-spotted

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[–] [email protected] 20 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Sounds like fraud. Idk much about the Canadian legal system but this seems on it's face a blatant attempt to circumvent the law with a middle man

[–] [email protected] 14 points 8 months ago (1 children)

yea, and letting people live in homes but saying they don't have rights because they don't really live in that home is like... i don't think there's anyway to spin that as not incredibly ghoulish and illegal

[–] [email protected] 13 points 8 months ago

Dunno how it works in Canada but in the US, you just automatically get tenant rights after a certain amount of time. No way to prevent it except by lying to the tenants to prevent them from trying to exercise the rights that they actually do legally have.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 8 months ago (1 children)

In Australia, at least, you're afforded tenants rights which you can't sign away. That said, any legal action against landlords is a fucking slog and doesn't prevent them from coming over and turfing all your stuff out and changing the locks. It just prevents cops from doing that

[–] [email protected] 5 points 8 months ago

doesn't prevent them from coming over and turfing all your stuff out and changing the locks

isn't that like, the first and primary thing any tenants rights should prevent? I mean it happens where I am too sometimes but it is illegal and mostly actually enforced it seems like

[–] [email protected] 7 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/06r17

“landlord” includes,

[...]

(c) a person, other than a tenant occupying a rental unit in a residential complex, who is entitled to possession of the residential complex and who attempts to enforce any of the rights of a landlord under a tenancy agreement or this Act, including the right to collect rent; (“locateur”)

I simply don't see how this can hold up in court lol

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I suppose they will argue that they don't/can't collect rent, since they're paying people.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

other way around. people are paying them to live in these places, its literally just an unlicensed landlord who insists tenancy laws don't apply because they called it something else

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago

Oh whoops lol, I misread. Guess my brain just didn't want to know something so stupid.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 8 months ago

kkkanada