One tenant on Reddit was devastated when their landlord tore up the garden that the tenant claimed they had permission to plant.
It's not uncommon for landlords to get into disputes with tenants about gardening. One petty landlord tried to close off their tenant's spigot to prevent them from watering any plants, and another tyrannical owner didn't want to see even potted plants on a balcony.
But in their post in the r/OntarioLandlord subreddit, this Redditor said their landlord took an alarmingly hands-on approach.
"Our landlord came by last week and ripped up our entire backyard garden — including flowers, herbs, and raspberry bushes," they said. "He used a [pickax] to tear things up by the root. … He left the plants all over the yard and made no effort to clean up."
That violent approach sounds like the action of someone fed up with an ongoing situation. But the Redditor said that wasn't the case. "He gave no notice or communication of any kind," they said. "When we moved in we were told we could use the backyard freely and garden if we wanted to. … I think a reasonable person would talk to us and find some compromise, but this guy doesn't seem interested in that at all."
"He sounds unhinged," said one commenter. "Why would he destroy his own property with a [pickax]? Have you noticed any other red flags with him?"
The Redditor said the landlord had no real explanation for his actions. "My partner confronted him about this today when she saw him. … He replied that he does this every year and intends to do it again."
The bewildered Redditor wondered what their options were. "Do we have any legal standing to ask him not to do this?" they questioned.
Luckily, the Redditor hails from Ontario, Canada, a region with clear tenants' rights. A commenter laid out several options for the Redditor to seek a resolution. They said, "If you had permission to garden in the shared space and then your landlord destroyed the plants without notice and left them scattered around the yard you potentially have grounds to file: a T2 form: Application about Tenant Rights, … a T3 form: Tenant Application for a Rent Reduction, … [and] a T6 form: Tenant Application about Maintenance."
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