The landlords of a Vancouver property have been ordered to pay more than $90,000 in penalties over health and safety violations and failures to make emergency repairs. The Compliance and Enforcement Unit of B.C.’s Residential Tenancy Branch imposed the penalties on the landlords—four individuals and a corporation—in a decision issued over the summer and published online this month. The address of the property is redacted from the decision, which describes it as a “pre-1930 residential property with a secondary suite” located somewhere in Vancouver. The property is zoned for a single-family home, and the RTBCEU did not find any evidence of its approval for use as a “rooming house or as multi-room sleeping accommodation for numerous unrelated occupants.” In July 2025, City of Vancouver inspectors “identified approximately 21 sleeping rooms and 17 tenants residing at the rental property,” which had been subdivided into “numerous sleeping rooms distributed throughout the main floor, attic, and basement levels,” according to the decision. “Municipal authorities documented concerns relating to unpermitted construction, means of egress, fire separation, electrical systems, plumbing systems, fire safety equipment, and the overall safety of the rental property for residential occupancy,” the document reads. “Municipal inspectors concluded that extensive remedial work would be required to bring the property into compliance with applicable requirements.” The city issued an order to vacate the property in August 2025, and the RTBCEU began its investigation that same month, after the city notified it of the situation. Part of the RTBCEU investigation involved reviewing files involving the landlords and their tenants from the RTB’s dispute resolution process. “Those records identify multiple applications involving tenants of the rental property and include allegations concerning rodents, mould, water ingress, fire-safety concerns, deficient egress, maintenance, repairs, and the overall suitability of the rental property for occupation,” the decision reads. According to the document, the property is owned by Sam Chuin Hsiu Law and Lisa Pui-Yee Law, who purchased it for $1,578,000 in April 2021. The other landlords were Livewell Homestay and Cleaning Limited—which was listed as the landlord on tenancy documents—and the company’s directors Jimy (Jim) Hon Chung Law and Matthew Tosaporn Lo. All five landlords received adequate notice of the allegations against them, but did not respond to the opportunity to be heard or participate in the RTBCEU’s discipline process. Scott McGregor, the RTB’s director of compliance and enforcement, proceeded with his decision without the landlords’ participation, ultimately ruling that three violations of B.C.’s Residential Tenancy Act had occurred. McGregor ruled that the landlords had “not provided or maintained” the property for tenants “in compliance with health, safety, and housing standards required by law,” they had failed to make “urgent and necessary emergency repairs to plumbing and electrical systems,” and that Jimy Hon Chung Law, specifically, had provided false or misleading information at six RTB dispute resolution hearings. The director imposed administrative monetary penalties of $5,000 per tenancy for the first violation, plus $5,000 for the second and $3,800 for the third. Because there were 17 proven tenancies, McGregor ruled, the total penalty for the first violation amounted to $85,000. Including the $5,000 for the second violation, the total fine imposed on all five landlords jointly came out to $90,000. McGregor applied the $3,800 penalty to Jimy alone. The landlords were given until Oct. 2 to pay their fines. CTV News reached out to the provincial government to inquire as to whether payment was made, but the Ministry of Housing and Municipal Affairs said the government remains in caretaker mode due to the recent election and cannot comment on anything other than “critical health and public safety information.”
