Image: Google Maps / The Residential Tenancy Branch (4th floor) in Burnaby is pictured. An Abbotsford tenant, Nicole Crowder, has won a settlement of nearly $34,000 from the RTB against an Abbotsford landlord who, according to the RTB, engaged in a litany of infractions during her tenancy from June 2021 until March 2023. The RTB assessed penalties against the landlord related to criminal harassment ($14,300) followed by loss of quiet enjoyment ($10,000), two months of lost work ($4,610), and difference in wages lost ($3,285). The tenant was overcharged for utilities, deprived of Wi-Fi that she had been promised, and had to pay for emergency repairs on her own.

By Mike Vanden Bosch

Abbotsford landlords assessed penalties

Abbotsford tenant wins $33K settlement against landlord: RTB

May 31, 2023 | 5:00 AM

ABBOTSFORD — An Abbotsford tenant has won a settlement of over $33,000 against three landlords from a home she rented in Abbotsford following a decision issued by the Residential Tenancy Branch of B.C.

Nicole Crowder, a tenant who rented the basement suite of a home in Abbotsford starting in June 2021, was awarded a monetary award of $33,833.17 for a litany of violations committed by her landlords between the time she moved in and the time she moved out, March 2023.

The decision was handed down on Thursday, May 25.

The largest infraction committed by the landlords as cited by the RTB was criminal harassment, at a cost of $14,300, followed by loss of quiet enjoyment ($10,000), two months of lost work ($4,610), and difference in wages lost ($3,285). The tenant was overcharged for utilities, deprived of Wi-Fi that she had been promised, and had to pay for emergency repairs on her own. Crowder paid $1,300 a month to rent the basement suite on a month-to-month tenancy with a $650 security deposit.

The RTB wrote in its decision that if the three landlords fail to comply with this order, it may be filed in the small claims division of the provincial court and enforced as an order of that court.

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The tenant, her mom, and legal counsel provided testimony, including statements that the landlord lived above the unit and would yell, bang, and play loud music to harass the tenant, the RTB noted in its decision.

Three landlords were listed in the RTB decision.

On March 17, 2022, the landlord allegedly sent Crowder 62 text messages in a span of two hours. The text messages allegedly included threats that the landlord would kill the tenant’s dog. According to the RTB documents, the male landlord entered the rental unit and the tenant contacted police. Police attended the property and arrested one of the three landlords, who was charged with criminal harassment and plead guilty to this charge in March 2023. He was handed a court order not to attend the rental unit, but breached this court order multiple times. Further, the male landlord sought to have Crowder evicted but she successfully disputed the eviction.

The criminal harassment resulted in Crowder taking time off from work from March 2022 through June 2022, forcing her to take a different job at a lower wage. The RTB arbitrator found that the landlord breached her right to quiet enjoyment of the basement suite, her right to privacy and safety, and substantially interfered with Crowder’s right to enjoyment of the rental unit and property.

Tasha Schollen, communications manager for Government Communications and Public Engagement with the Ministry of Housing, wrote in an email Tuesday that in limited circumstances, a landlord or tenant can request a review of an RTB decision. The circumstances in which a party can apply for review consideration are when a party was unable to attend the hearing for reasons unanticipated and beyond their control; a party has new and relevant evidence that was not available at the time of the original hearing; or, a party has evidence that the director’s decision or order was obtained by fraud.

Schollen said the review consideration process is not an opportunity to reargue the case or evidence. If a person receives a decision from the RTB that they feel is unfair or patently unreasonable, they can submit a Judicial Review application through B.C. Supreme Court to set aside the decision. Disagreeing with a decision is not grounds for a judicial review, Schollen added.