Tenant eviction rulings head to court as B.C.'s tougher rules and higher fines take hold

A young couple who bought a house in February last year and moved in four months later, after renovating the former rental, were shocked to learn they had to pay $27,000 to former tenants under the Residential Tenancy Branch’s new stricter laws designed to curb illegal evictions.

“My husband and I were shocked to receive a decision letter from [the Residential Tenancy Branch] stating that we have to pay $27,000 to the past tenants from a former owner,” Chingnga Fung wrote in court documents. “We were not aware of the scheduled hearing nor received anything to this matter.” Between Jan. 1, 2021, and April 30, 2023, there have been 2,200 applications to the Residential Tenancy Branch from “tenants claiming their landlords did not use the rental unit for the stated purpose for ending the tenancy for landlord’s use of the property,” according to an email from the Housing Ministry.

The landlord can be exempted for “extenuating circumstances,” such as the death of the parent who was going to move in or the destruction of the rental unit by fire. But exemption wouldn’t be granted if the landlord changed his minds about moving in or hadn’t budgeted for renovations. Another Residential Tenancy Branch decision that awarded tenants in a Victoria case 12 months rent, or $22,000, because it took the landlord six months to complete renovations before his whole family could move in, even though the landlord moved in earlier, was reversed by a B.C. Supreme Court judge.

Landlords B.C. support the Residential Tenancy Branch enforcing enforce penalties for illegal evictions, said CEO David Hutniak. “The penalties are obviously substantial, as they should be.”

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