A B.C. Residential Tenancy Branch ruling detailed a Burnaby landlord struggling to deal with a high-maintenance tenant who would file dozens of “imagined” complaints and who tried to get them fired from their day job.
The ruling called the tenant “unrelenting” and “frightening” in their filing of complaints about noise and other issues involving tenants in the same building.
The landlord had petitioned the RTB to end the tenancy early due to all of the complaints and confrontations with other tenants in the rental building.
The landlord produced copies of 17 letters from other tenant in the building about confrontations with the tenant in question.
“The general theme of the letters is that this tenant screams and threatens other tenants in the building,” said the ruling.
The landlord also produce logs of dozens of voicemails left by the tenant with complaints about noise and drug deals in the building.
The landlord also testified that the tenant threatened to get the landlord fired from their job at Burnaby Hospital by telling the employer that the landlord was being investigated for human rights complaints that didn’t exist.
Two witnesses for the landlord testified that this tenant threatened to kill another tenant in front of a child, including a plea to “please stop victimizing me with your noise.”
At one point, the landlord contacted the police after one particular voicemail. Police took the tenant to the hospital.
“I find that the unrelenting nature of her conduct to be frightening such that it would be unreasonable, or unfair to the landlord or other occupants of the residential property, to wait for a notice to end the tenancy,” said the ruling. “She simply maintained her own campaign of complaints and threats which I find came to become harassing to the landlord and to other tenants. I find that not only were her phone messages and letters harassing, they were also threatening.”
The tenant denied in the hearing that she threatened to kill anyone and testified that she suffers from bi-polar disorder. She also denied a claim by another tenant that she was taking photos of children in the building without permission.
“It is reasonable and probably that this diagnosis may well be the reason for her actions,” said the ruling. “However, the act does not provide special dispensation to allow tenancies to continue when the actions of one of the parties arises from their illness.”
The RTB ruled that the tenancy would be ended immediately.
Follow Chris Campbell on Twitter @shinebox44.
