One Toronto landlord is continuing to write desperate handwritten letters to their tenant, begging them to pay their owed rent after months of failing to make any payments. 

Sameer Singhania, who lives in an apartment building in Riverdale, told blogTO that he noticed a letter attached to his neighbour's door last week.

According to Singhania, the neighbour moved in last September, and he suspects them to be someone "who rents out units and then plays the system." 

"You are $9000 behind in rent now," the first letter reads. "The landlord cannot afford to pay the mortgages, taxes, maintenance, etc., without your rent." 

"The landlord is on the verge of bankruptcy. Please do the right thing by paying your rent or moving out. I am not an evil landlord," the letter continues. "I'm just trying to make my ends meet. Let's work together to find a solution." 

Singhania discovered a second handwritten note this past weekend, where the landlord once again begged the tenant to pay their rent. 

"When will you pay your rent?" the most recent letter reads. "You can't live here for free forever. Sooner or later you will have to move out." 

The second letter posted this month from the landlord to the tenant. Photo by Sameer Singhania.

"I want to work with you. I want to help you out if you just talk to me," the letter continues. 

The landlord then suggests the tenant call the Toronto Rent Bank and visit their website in order to sort out their rent payments. 

"Please do the right thing and PAY YOUR RENT," the letter says. 

According to the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB), a landlord has two options if a tenant does not pay rent. One, the landlord can give the tenant a notice asking them to pay the rent they owe or move out. If they don't, the landlord can apply to the LTB for an order to evict the tenant and to collect the rent that the tenant owes. 

Or, the landlord can apply to the LTB for an order to collect the rent that the tenant owes, without asking the board to make an order to evict the tenant. 

However, solutions to these sorts of issues rarely arise quickly, because the LTB has been experiencing endless backlogs and long wait times.

Currently, applications to evict a tenant for non-payment of rent and applications to collect rent the tenant owes are being "scheduled for a hearing within 25 business days," according to the LTB website. 

When it comes to new and adjourned matters, the LTB says wait times could range anywhere from seven to eight months from when they are received. 

"It sounded to me like he wants to live there rent-free and knows how to do it legally as there is a long backlog at the LTB tribunal," Singhania previously told blogTO. 

"He seemed almost confident and cocky that he cannot be evicted without the court order, which can [take] up to a year apparently these days," Singhania explained. "He did not look scared."