A B.C. landlord attempted to oust an 80-year-old tenant for having her son in her unit and making noise but was unsuccessful.
In a recent dispute, a landlord had served their tenant with a one-month notice to end the tenancy for several reasons, including having an unreasonable number of occupants in the unit, disturbing other tenants, seriously jeopardizing the health and safety of other occupants, and failing to comply with a material term of the tenancy.
The tenancy commenced on Sept. 15, 2015; the landlord said the monthly rent was $559 while the tenant said it was $636. The landlord retains a damage deposit of $200.
The landlord submitted three pieces of evidence to support their cause to end the tenancy. One was a letter to the tenant dated April 20, 2023, about "reports" of an unregistered occupant in her suite. Another one dated April 28, 2023, was a noise complaint from another tenant.
The final letter, dated April 29, was an encounter the caretaker had with a "male occupant in the unit" who she claimed raised his voice when asked how long he would be saying. The caretaker did not feel "comfortable" during the exchange.
Landlord claims the renter's son was there for a 'long time'
The landlord believed the renter, an 80-year-old senior, moved the male occupant, her son, into her one-bedroom unit and he had lived there for a "long time." The property is a place for seniors or people with disabilities.
The landlord said they asked the tenant for proof the man lived somewhere else but she did not comply. They issued a warning letter to the tenant stating that he had to be moved out of the unit within seven days and that they would conduct an inspection on April 28, 2023.
The landlord also submitted a letter from a tenant who lived below the senior and claimed a loud banging would make the lights in her unit flicker and her glass cabinets shake. She said it happened during the day and between 9:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. and 1 a.m. to 2:30 a.m.
The tenant said she never received the complaint and the landlord confirmed that they hadn't given it to her because she wasn't home when they attempted to.
The caretaker said the landlord's son had asked her for some tools to do repairs in his mother's unit. When she asked him how long he was staying, she claimed he was intimidating and raised his voice.
Tenant said her son never lived there
The tenant said her son and grandchildren visited her and her son took care of her unit while she was on vacation. The rail in her bathroom was broken and he was fixing it for her.
While her son did not live with her, the renter did not feel it was her landlord's business to know his address.
The renter claimed she made minimal noise and did not wear shoes in her carpeted unit; the only noisy thing she did was vacuum.
The Residential Tenancy Branch ruled in favour of the tenant, noting that the landlord failed to prove her son resided in the unit. It also said one noise complaint (if true) from a tenant did not constitute a "significant interference" to other occupants.
The tenant's application to dismiss the one-month notice to end the tenancy was granted.
