Joe Hoffer

About Joe Hoffer

Joe Hoffer, Counsel at Cohen Highley LLP in London, Ontario, has been a litigator for more than 30 years. On residential tenancies Joe acts only for landlords, and the rest of the practice covers condominium law, real estate and land use planning. Those cases take Joe before provincial boards and tribunals and through Ontario's courts, including the Superior Court, the Divisional Court and the Court of Appeal.

Landlords and property managers also hear from Joe through REMI Network's industry coverage. In 2021 Joe pointed out that RTA amendments would let landlords seek a judgment at the Landlord and Tenant Board for a former tenant's unpaid rent within a year of move-out, and called the changes useful to small landlords trying to recover utility costs and other losses. In 2025 Joe suggested inspecting a unit, with a written report, when a tenant moves in, checking again after three months and, if nothing's wrong, yearly after that. And when Ontario's new LTB rules took effect in 2026, Joe's advice was to train staff and adjust in-house policies and procedures.

Joe's public service in London includes time as chair of the London Police Services Board. Joe is also an advocate for hiring people with disabilities, and in 2010 David Onley, then Ontario's Lieutenant Governor, presented Joe with the Champion's League award.

Canada Law Book published Joe's A Practical Guide to the Tenant Protection Act in 1999, and teaching remains a steady part of the work. Joe co-chaired Osgoode's residential landlord-tenant disputes program and later passed that role to Kristin Ley, whom Joe had brought into it. Kristin, called in 2008, took a job working with Joe and came to see Joe as a mentor in multi-residential housing law. Joe presents at continuing education programs of the Law Society of Ontario and the Paralegal Society, at joint Osgoode Hall and University of Toronto programs, and at training sessions for housing industry groups such as FRPO, the GTAA and the LPMA.