A B.C. landlord must pay her former tenants $27,424 as compensation for wrongful eviction, according to a recent court decision dismissing her bid to overturn the order. In 2023, Jane Li evicted her tenants from her Kelowna property, where they had lived since 2020 and were paying $2,200 per month in rent, the court heard. “The purpose stated for ending the tenancy was that Ms. Li intended to occupy the rental unit,” Justice C. Richard Hewson wrote in his decision. The tenants disputed the eviction through the Residential Tenancy Branch, alleging Li had not moved in. In cases like this, the decision notes, the landlord has the burden of proving that they moved into the unit and occupied it for at least six months after the eviction – with an exception for “extenuating circumstances.” The arbitrator at the RTB found Li had not proven she moved in and lived in the unit for the required period of time, and Li was ordered to pay her former tenants the equivalent of 12 months rent, plus fees. The arbitrator’s decision is reproduced, in part, in the judge’s decision to dismiss the petition for review. “I find that the landlord’s testimony regarding where she was living and when and why she was absent from the property under dispute throughout the six months following the end of the tenancy was inconsistent and contradictory and therefore lacks credibility. I find, on the other hand, that the tenants’ testimony was consistent and credible,” the arbitrator wrote. “I further find that the landlord did not provide evidence that she was under a doctor’s care or require treatment out of province or that she moved anything more than the basic items, already in storage at the home, into the property to be used during her brief stays at the unit. Therefore, the arbitrator said, the landlord “failed to accomplish the purpose for which the notice was issued, for at least six months and that no extenuating circumstances existed which prevented her from doing so.” Li sought a review on the grounds that the decision was “patently unreasonable” and ought to be overturned or sent back to RTB for reconsideration. Overturning the decision would require the judge to determine it was “openly, clearly, evidently unreasonable” based on the evidence presented to the arbitrator, Hewson explained, adding that a judge’s role is not to re-litigate the dispute. In this case, Li’s evidence that there were extenuating circumstances, namely that she had to leave B.C. for medical treatment, was unsupported by documentation. In addition, it was contradicted by the tenant’s evidence that Li said she planned to sell the property, according to the judge. “I am satisfied that the decision that there were no extenuating circumstances and to award compensation to (the tenants) was not patently unreasonable,” Hewson wrote.
