British Columbia court overturns eviction order against social housing tenant

A resident of a public housing building in Vancouver who was asked to move out because of a controversial $45 rent arrears has been given the right to stay, at least for now.

Jeremy Wall lives in a building on Burrard Street managed by the Kettle Friendship Society.

Last September, the nonprofit organization gave a key tenant a one-month notice to terminate its lease, according to a recent decision by the Supreme Court of British Columbia.

The eviction suit cited “multiple reasons” for terminating the tenancy, the court decision states. However, when Wall took the company to the Residential Tenancy Branch to challenge the termination, the RTB arbitrator only upheld the eviction on the grounds that Wall had been “repeatedly in arrears in paying rent.”

Wall filed a judicial review of the RTB ruling in the Supreme Court of British Columbia, arguing that the arbitrator misapplied the law, misunderstood the evidence and failed to consider relevant information.

In a decision delivered orally last month and posted online this week, Judge Lisa A. Warren noted that she had “no difficulty” in concluding that the arbitrator’s decision was “manifestly unreasonable.”

One-time late payment, multiple reminders

According to Warren’s decision, Wall receives disability assistance from the Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Alleviation, which pays his $420 monthly rent directly to the Kettle Society.

“There is no dispute that Mr. Wall paid his rent in full for each month of his tenancy, with the exception of April 1, 2023,” the decision states. “In that month, only $375 of the $420 rent was paid.”

The $45 shortfall was the result of “an error by the ministry,” the court decision states.

The landlord sent Wall a letter in May informing him of the defect, and Wall told the court he responded by paying the landlord $45. He claimed he received a receipt but lost it.

In July, he received a second letter saying he was $45 behind on his debt. He told the court he ignored the letter because he thought the situation had already been resolved.

The following month, he received another letter in which he inquired at the landlord’s office in the building, the decision states.

At the beginning of September, he received a final letter informing him that he had until September 30 to pay the outstanding rent. Despite this deadline, he received notice of termination of the tenancy on September 19.

“The arbitrator rejected Mr. Wall’s evidence that he had paid the arrears and found that it was ‘unclear’ why Mr. Wall did not contact the landlord about the matter until August 2023,” Warren’s decision summarized.

“The arbitrator then concluded that Mr. Wall was ‘repeatedly in arrears with rent’ within the meaning of the Residential Tenancy Act because ‘there were at least three instances of late rent payment’ as the rent was not paid in April and this was not corrected in response to the landlord’s letters. In other words, failure to pay the full amount of rent for a single month, combined with failure to remedy the situation in response to the landlord’s four letters, was classified as ‘repeated late rent payment.'”

The judge noted that according to the RTB arbitrator guidelines, three late payments are “the minimum number that justifies termination of the tenancy for non-payment of rent.”

“The arbitrator did not engage in a coherent analysis of the meaning of ‘repeatedly late’, how that term applies to Mr Wall in the circumstances of this case, or the extent to which Mr Wall’s conduct may be classified as serious misconduct,” the decision states.

“The arbitrator did not take into account the factual circumstances, such as the fact that there was only one incident in which an incorrect amount of rent had been paid, that the rent had been paid by the Ministry on behalf of Mr Wall or that the shortfall was small.”

Warren found that the tribunal’s decision was “clearly unreasonable on its face” and decided not to remit the case to the RTB but to set aside the decision and the order for possession made in favour of the Kettle Society.

“I cannot re-weight the evidence before the arbitrator, but based on the material before him, the best the landlord can say – again assuming that it was reasonable to reject Mr. Wall’s evidence – is that the Department underpaid Mr. Wall in rent by $45 on a single occasion and then Mr. Wall took no steps to correct the situation despite being informed of it twice (in the May 18 and July 12 letters). He then appeared at the landlord’s office claiming the rent had already been paid,” the decision states.

Eviction process underway

Warren noted that her decision does not prevent the landlord from filing an eviction suit based on the other grounds he listed in his notice of termination of tenancy for good cause.

When asked for comment on the court’s decision, the Kettle Friendship Society provided CTV News with a statement confirming that it continues to seek to evict Wall.

“There are reasons for this eviction other than late rent payment,” the statement said.

“As we are still actively engaging in the RTB arbitration process on this matter, we are unable to provide any further details.”

The nonprofit further stated that its priority is to create “a safe and supportive environment” for its tenants and that it does not regularly seek evictions for unpaid rent.

“When tenants pay their rent late or do not pay at all, we work with them to find a solution while maintaining their housing,” the statement said. “The decision to evict a tenant is not one we take lightly. We work with tenants to resolve issues before they reach that point. However, as housing providers and employers, we also have a duty of care to our other tenants and employees.”