Landlord who evicted B.C. tenants, flew to China to take care of father should not have to pay $45K: court

The Lower Lonsdale area of North Vancouver is shown in an image from June 2019. (CTV News Vancouver's Pete Cline in Chopper 9)

A B.C. landlord who evicted her tenants so she could move into their unit, then flew to China to take care of her ailing father, did not receive a fair hearing before the province’s Residential Tenancy Branch, a judge has ruled.

B.C. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Wilkinson issued her decision in the case on April 14, but it was published online Friday.

Miyuki Shiino owns the property on Montroyal Boulevard in North Vancouver where Mike Nairne and Sujin Wren resided from August 2021 until she evicted them in June 2024.

The purpose of the eviction was for “landlord’s use” of the property, and Shiino told the court she moved into the unit in August 2024.

By October of that year, however, she received word that her 88-year-old father in China had suffered “a ruptured thoracic aneurysm and had undergone major vascular surgery,” according to Wilkinson’s decision.

Shiino spent the next five months in China, returning to North Vancouver in April 2025, after her father’s condition had improved.

In June 2025, Nairne and Wren filed a notice of dispute resolution with the RTB, seeking compensation for an improper landlord’s use eviction.

In B.C., landlords can evict long-term tenants if they or a close family member intend to move into the rental unit. However, the Residential Tenancy Act imposes certain restrictions on these types of evictions.

The landlord must act in good faith, must complete the stated purpose of the eviction within a reasonable time after the tenant leaves, and must continue using the unit for that purpose for at least six months.

Landlords who act in bad faith can have their eviction notices overturned, while landlords who fail to move in on time or stay for the required period can be ordered to pay their former tenants 12 months’ worth of their former rent as compensation.

That’s what happened to Shiino. The RTB arbitrator who heard her tenants’ case concluded that she had failed to reside in the unit for the requisite six months and ordered her to pay Nairne and Wren $45,156.

Shiino requested reconsideration, arguing that the RTB arbitrator had failed to consider the extenuating circumstances of her father’s illness. When the RTB upheld the penalty on reconsideration, Shiino petitioned the B.C. Supreme Court for judicial review, which is how Wilkinson became involved.

The judge found that the RTB arbitrator had not ensured procedural fairness in the hearing.

“In the decision, the arbitrator incorrectly stated that the landlord did not provide translations and further erred in stating that the landlord failed to explain the reason for her prolonged absence,” Wilkinson’s decision reads.

“The arbitrator failed to consider all of the landlord’s evidence, including her documentary evidence, which was translated and submitted, and her oral testimony during the hearing. The omission to consider this material evidence, particularly where it related directly to extenuating circumstances and occupancy, constitutes a reviewable error.”

While there was no dispute that Shiino failed to reside in the property for six months, the law provides for exceptions to the occupancy requirement when there are extenuating circumstances.

Though Shiino was self-represented during the hearing and was relying on a translator, the RTB arbitrator didn’t ask her any questions about her travel to China or explain the rules around extenuating circumstances to her, according to the decision.

“Additionally, the arbitrator rejected relevant medical evidence without providing reasons, further undermining the fairness of the process,” the decision reads.

Wilkinson concluded that the RTB decision and the reconsideration decision should both be set aside, but she did not substitute her own decision for the arbitrator’s. Instead, she remitted the matter to the RTB for reconsideration based on the evidence already submitted by the parties.