‘Professional tenant’ James Regan receives 3rd eviction notice since 2014
A “well-coiffed, professional tenant” who has not paid any rent at three high-end Toronto apartments since 2014 has been ordered to leave the Yorkville home he has occupied since July.
According to a ruling issued by the Ontario Landlord and Tenant Board on Oct. 13, James Regan, 62, owes his landlord $10,000 in rent payments. If he does not pay the amount by Oct. 24, a court-ordered sheriff will evict Regan from the three-bedroom, two-bathroom upstairs apartment on Avenue Road.
In a hearing last week, James Regan was angry and disruptive as he attempted to stop and delay the process, going as far as accusing the board of bias and anti-Semitism.
At the onset, Regan asked the board to adjourn the hearing because he claimed his lawyer could not attend due to a Jewish holiday.
However, the board denied the request after Regan failed to produce any confirmation of this — or any correspondence whatsoever — from his lawyer.
In a previous hearing on the matter, Regan did not have a lawyer present and represented himself.
“You’re totally disrespectful to the Jewish holiday,” Regan shouted at board member Renée Lang. “You’re clearly anti-Semitic.”
In her ruling, Lang wrote that Regan,”submitted no argument or evidence” to back up this claim. “As there is no basis for this highly inflammatory allegation,” Lang wrote, “it warrants no further comment.”
Name-calling during angry outburst
In a series of loud and protracted outbursts, Regan also called Lang “obnoxious,” “disgraceful,” and an “embarrassment.”
“You’re fired,” Regan shouted at her at one point.
Lang was patient and polite as she tried to calm Regan and steer the hearing back on track. Regan was asked several times by security to restrain himself.
In previous hearings at the Landlord and Tenant Board, Regan has been accused of causing unnecessary delays.
By appealing his previous eviction order in Superior Court, Regan was able to live in a luxury condominium near Old Mill Road and Bloor Street for eight months without paying any rent.
Prior to that, Regan lived in another luxury condominium on Lakeshore Boulevard rent-free throughout the year-long process to evict him.
“I am not attempting to abuse the process,” Regan told the board last Tuesday.
Once it became clear Regan could not adjourn the hearing, he became even more frustrated and finally abandoned it.
Regan was given half an hour to return and did not. Security guards also attempted to find him. The hearing continued without Regan and he was ordered to move out of the unit “on or before Oct. 24.”
However, under the Residential Tenancies Act, tenants have an automatic right to appeal eviction orders from the board in Superior Court and continue to live in the rent-disputed property even if they have not paid any rent.
“I have every confidence in the system. I am sure he will be out,” Regan’s landlord Robin Ennis said following the ruling.
CBC
~Wakenya Canada