What is difference between adjourning and rescheduling hearings?

Under LTB Interpretation Guideline 1, the Landlord and Tenant Board defines rescheduling and adjourning as follows:

• Rescheduling involves a staff sets a new date for the hearing in advance of the date originally set for it, usually confirmed by a new Notice of Hearing;
• Adjourning involves the Board Member’s decision regarding when the hearing of an application scheduled for a specific day will actually proceed and/or be completed.

Requesting to reschedule a hearing

The Board will generally only reschedule a hearing if the party seeking the rescheduling is able to obtain the agreement of the other party. The first step, therefore, is to seek consent from the landlord, preferably in writing, to reschedule the hearing:

• Once consent has been obtained, a written request can be sent or faxed to the Board. This can be in the form of a letter or the completed Request to Reschedule a Hearing form provided by the Board. Requests should include confirmation that the landlord has agreed to the rescheduling, and what dates the parties, and their representatives, if any, will not be available for the next three months.
• Under some circumstances, for example, if the tenant can show that they cannot obtain consent from the landlord because the landlord is deliberately avoiding them, a Request to Reschedule a Hearing without consent may succeed. If the request is not accepted, the tenant will have to attend on the hearing date to request an adjournment from the Member.
• If the matter has not been previously adjourned the request must be received by the Board by noon of the day before the hearing and a copy should be sent to the landlord or its representatives. Board staff will reschedule the hearing and the parties or their representatives will be advised of the rescheduled hearing date by way of a new notice of hearing.
• Notwithstanding the new Notice of Hearing, it is the tenant’s responsibility to determine if the request has been granted, and the date, time and place of the rescheduled hearing.
• If the matter has previously been adjourned written consent seeking a rescheduling must be filed with the Board at least two full business days before the scheduled hearing date. The request will be considered by a Board Member.
• If the Member denies the request for rescheduling, the parties must attend on the date fixed for the hearing and may request an adjournment which may be granted or denied.

Requesting to adjourn a hearing

• If the tenant cannot obtain consent to rescheduling from the landlord in advance of the hearing date, they (or their representative) must attend on the hearing date to request an adjournment from the Member. If the parties agree to adjourn the hearing, the Board will not interfere with this agreement in most circumstances.
• The requests for adjournment are normally heard at the beginning of the hearing block for which the hearing is scheduled. However, an adjournment request may also be made after the hearing has begun.
• If the landlord does not consent to an adjournment, the Member must balance the interest of both the landlord and tenant in deciding whether to grant the request. The tenant must convince the Member that there is some important reason(s) why it would be unfair to proceed immediately with the hearing.

If the adjournment is granted, the Member may impose conditions on the adjournment.

What are grounds for a tenant to request an adjournment?

The tenant can rely on different reasons for requesting an adjournment if:

• An important witness or documentary evidence is not available;
• The tenant needs an interpreter or other forms of accommodations (e.g. disability);
• The tenant needs to prepare section 82 arguments;
• The tenant has an emergency (e.g., accident, the child is sick, problems with transportation, incarceration).
• The tenant’s representative or lawyer is unavailable, or the tenant needs to retain counsel. Section 10 of the Statutory Powers Procedure Act gives the party to a proceeding a right to counsel. However, this right is not mandatory. If adjourning for counsel, best to have letter from counsel and/or available dates.
• The tenant has filed or will be filing their own application(s) that directly relates to the application before the Board. The matters should be heard together since their outcomes are interrelated e.g. set-offs.
• The tenant had little or no notice of the application or non-sufficient details and is not prepared to defend the case today, (e.g. had no time to gather evidence).

If the Board grants the adjournment, the Board may impose conditions or issue an interim order (e.g., pay rent into the Board, provide disclosure to the landlord, etc). If the tenant does not comply with the interim order, the Board may refuse to accept evidence or proceed with the tenant’s application.

If the adjournment request is a result of an application for rent arrears, ask for the hearing to be rescheduled within the same rental period. The prejudice to the landlord will be less because no new rent will come due.

If the Board denies the adjournment request, ask for written reasons for the denial.

If the adjournment is being requested to refer the tenant to their community legal aid clinic or to a private bar lawyer, the Board may suggest that tenant duty counsel should represent the tenant. Explain to the Board Member that you are only retained to speak to the adjournment request; the Tenant Duty Counsel Program does not have resources to properly prepare to represent the tenant; you are not familiar with the issues raised in the application.