- Parties: The appellant/landlord was Highfields Farm Corp. The respondent/tenant was Jake Francis. 

- Subject Matter: On Jan. 12, 2023, the landlord served the tenants – the respondent and his brother Mike Francis – with an application to evict them for non-payment of rent (an L1 application). The Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) ordered that the tenancy be terminated and that the tenants vacate the unit if the arrears and costs were unpaid by Aug. 8, 2023. On May 17, 2024, upon a review requested by the respondent, the LTB removed him as a responding party to the application because he was not a tenant possessing the rental unit at the time of the making of the landlord’s application to terminate the tenancy. The landlord appealed the review order. 

- Ruling: The court ruled in the respondent’s favour and dismissed the appeal. The LTB’s summary of the evidence made it clear that it considered all the relevant factors that the parties raised, the court said. The respondent’s vacating of the unit on July 31, 2021 was among the factors considered by the LTB and might well have been the most important factor, the court added. The court rejected the appellant’s argument that the respondent’s tenancy was never terminated under Ontario’s Residential Tenancies Act, 2006. 

- Date: The court released its decision on Dec. 3, 2024. 

- Venue: This was a case before the Ontario Superior Court of Justice - Divisional Court. 

- Amount: The court ordered no costs as the parties requested none.