After about four years of frustration, a Brampton, Ont. man and his wife finally got back their 32nd -floor Toronto waterfront condo apartment unit after their tenant was removed by the Sheriff.
For Narinder Singh, the long-awaited eviction was a relief.
“I’m at a loss for words, this has been a harrowing experience,” said Singh, interviewed minutes after the eviction had taken place.
Singh says he is owed the money after the tenant, Deeqa Rafle. inconsistently paid rent at various times over a four-year period. He says she also failed to pay some utilities that were registered in his name.
According to Singh, he calculates he’s owed $55,177.85 which includes unpaid rent, unpaid utilities, plus the cost of repairing the unit, and the cost of removing items Rafle left behind after the eviction.
Ontario’s Landlord and Tenant Board ordered Rafle to pay $35,000 to Singh, the maximum amount within the provincial board’s jurisdiction.
In August, after a Global News report was published about Singh’s efforts to have Rafle removed from the unit, she hired a lawyer and sought to appeal the board’s original decision to evict her.
On October 2, Landlord and Tenant Board member Diane Wade denied the appeal and lifted a stay that delayed the eviction.
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On November 25, as Global News watched alongside Singh and his wife, Sheriff’s representatives carried out the eviction.
Eleven days earlier, Rafle had booked a condominium elevator for the purposes of moving out, but she did not vacate the two-bedroom Mimico neighbourhood condo unit as expected.
Global News asked Rafle for comment when she was ordered out of the unit after locks were changed but she declined to say anything.
At one point in the legal process, Rafle indicated to the Landlord and Tenant board that she had fallen behind on the $2,600 monthly rent because she was hospitalized and could not work for a period of time.
But Singh claims Rafle began complaining about the new, luxury condo unit with a view of downtown Toronto soon after she moved in, demanding rent adjustments.
“Squatters like her, they’re well aware of how to abuse the system. To what length they can abuse. And they take full advantage of it,” Singh said in an interview.
Global News reported on another case in Brampton in 2024 involving a tenant who had not been paying rent on a home owned by Yvonne Folkes. That tenant eventually moved out but still owed about $32,000 at the time, Folkes said.
According to Small Ownership Landlords of Ontario (SOLO), a not-for-profit organization that assists landlords with investment properties attempting to supplement their incomes, the regulatory system is often a burden for what it calls “mom and pop” landlords.
“The non-payment of rent can financially destroy small landlords. We have seen some of our members lose their investment homes and even their primary residences to power of sale after failing to keep up with mortgage payments,” said Varun Sriskanda, a lawyer and realtor who is a member of SOLO’s board of directors.
“Most of the small landlords I speak to handle the situation by getting a second job, using their savings, taking out a line of credit or refinancing their property to take out equity – anything to stay afloat,” said Sriskanda.
“On a regular basis I hear stories of small landlords that are continuing to fall victim to unscrupulous tenants,” he said.
Singh, who operates a dry-cleaning business inside a supermarket, says he and his wife saved “penny by penny” to purchase the condo apartment as an investment for their eventual retirement.
Singh doesn’t believe he’ll be reimbursed for the outstanding rent.
According to Sriskanda, landlords who’ve had serious issues with tenants or who’ve heard about the risks are reallocating their money into safer investments.
“The bigger issue is who this really hurts, and that’s the tenants,” he said.
“The risks are too high, and small landlords are bearing the brunt of Ontario’s housing crisis. We estimate small landlords provide 30 per cent to 40 per cent of the rental units in Ontario,” Sriskanda said.
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
