Judge rules man’s eviction from social housing over $45 in unpaid rent ‘unreasonable’

A man who had been issued an eviction notice from his home in social housing over $45 in unpaid rent has won the right to stay with a judge calling the original basis for his eviction “unreasonable.”

Jeremy Wall, who has lived in social housing operated by the Kettle Friendship Society in downtown Vancouver, received a one-month eviction notice in September.

Court documents stated the reason for the eviction was based on Wall being “repeatedly late paying the rent,” which is ordinarily legitimate grounds for eviction under the law.

However, according to a judgement published last week, Wall being “repeatedly late paying the rent” related to a single short payment. In April 2023, only $375 of his monthly $420 rent was paid and the deficiency carried over for multiple months.

As well, Wall wasn’t responsible for paying his rent and the error wasn’t his to begin with.

“Mr. Wall is a recipient of persons with disabilities assistance through the Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction. His rent was paid directly by the ministry,” the judgement said.

“The underpayment in April 2023 resulted from a mistake made by the ministry.”

Wall said that when he received an initial letter in May 2023 informing him of the shortfall, he paid the landlord $45 directly. However, he couldn’t provide a receipt to show that he did this.

He continued to receive letters asking for the shortfall over the next several months. However, he said he believed the matter had been taken care of when he had paid $45 to the landlord.

In the fourth letter he received, he was told that the arrears needed to be paid by Sept. 30. However, he received a one-month eviction notice on Sept. 19.

By November, the eviction notice from September was still in place, but he hadn’t moved out. On the advice of an advocate, he paid the landlord another $45 and was given a receipt, but this wasn’t considered in future decisions.

An arbitrator sided with the Kettle Housing Society in January, saying that a tenant is considered to be “repeatedly late paying rent” after being late three times and since Wall did not settle the shortfall for more than three months he met this criteria.

However, a judge disagreed with the arbitrator.

“…the arbitrator’s finding that Mr. Wall was repeatedly late paying the rent, as that phrase is used in s. 47(1)(b) of the Act, is patently unreasonable. In other words, it is clearly unreasonable on its face, and it cannot rationally be supported on the record that was before the arbitrator,” the judgement said.

Wall was also awarded costs.

“I am not suggesting that the landlord acted improperly in taking steps to enforce the RTB (Residential Tenancy Branch) order, but the reality is that the timelines tenants have to act within in these matters are tight,” the judge wrote.