Nina Willis, a Toronto tenant found guilty of defrauding two of her former landlords, has been sent to jail.

A visibly emotional Willis hugged two young women and a man who accompanied her to the hearing at College Park Court, and was then handcuffed and removed from the courtroom shortly before 11:30 a.m.

Willis, 51, was found guilty of two counts of fraud under $5,000 and two counts of false pretense under $5,000, for misleading two landlords on her rental applications, and in emails she provided when applying to rent their homes.

She was handed six months in jail and one year of probation. The sentencing hearing started on April 10, but was adjourned so she could organize her affairs and then surrender to the court. Much of Monday’s short appearance was spent discussing what Willis should be ordered to pay her two former landlords.

Assistant crown attorney Craig Power asked for a total of about $7,000, but questioned if the emotional hardship and time needed to recover the funds would be worth it.

“To put it frankly I am not sure that they can handle being subject to her again,” he said.

Willis said media coverage of her story meant she recently lost a job and is on government assistance. She also complained about court costs.

“I have been made an example ... I cannot secure a place in my name, so I have been very, very punished,” she said.

Justice Alphonse Lacavera said the landlords clearly suffered financial losses, but noted she was unemployed and did not order her to pay.

That decision prompted Willis to flash a thumbs-up sign behind her back.

She has already stated that she intends to appeal.

Toronto lawyer Mark C. Halfyard, speaking generally, said that a person seeking an appeal could apply for and receive bail pending the outcome.

The Star sat in on the trial as part of an ongoing investigation into how tenants abuse protections at the provincially funded Landlord and Tenant Board.

Willis has been evicted from seven properties since 2005 for failing to pay rent, according to court and tribunal documents and interviews with former landlords and lawyers. At the board, she stalls and alleges abuse and maintenance issues. When ordered out, she appeals, further stalling the process.

Privacy legislation means the details of the public hearings are sealed.

Justice Lacavera noted, prior to sentencing, that landlord and tenant legislation was designed to protect both renters and property owners.

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“There was a time, I think, in our society when landlords abused tenants,” he said. The system “may have swung in favour of the tenant for a time,” he said.

“There must be a levelling of the playing field between landlords and tenants and the system, which is there for the benefit of each, should not be abused.”