A former Burnaby housing co-op member accused of turning an attic into an unauthorized bedroom has been ordered to pay the cost of reversing the alterations to his unit.
Christopher Cadeau, a former member and resident of the Edmonds Place Housing Co-operative at 7220 Edmonds St., took out a dividing wall in his laundry room to create access to an attic space, according to a ruling by the Civil Resolution Tribunal last week.
He also changed the flooring in the laundry room and attic, the ruling said.
The co-op accused Cadeau of using the attic space as another bedroom, according to the ruling, but Cadeau disputed that claim and any allegations that unreasonable noise was coming from the space.
The co-op discovered the unauthorized renovations in a May 2020 inspection and ordered Cadeau to reverse them, the ruling said.
By the end of October 2020, however, Cadeau and his family had moved out.
Before leaving he replaced and mudded the laundry room wall but didn't paint it.
In its move-out report, the co-op said Cadeau owed it $3,111.25 for the cost of reversing the unauthorized alterations and cleaning the unit.
The co-op claimed Cadeau also owed $2,880 in unpaid housing charges for October and November 2020.
But Cadeau said he essentially paid for the October housing charges when the co-op kept his original $1,500 share purchase, and he moved out before November and therefore owed nothing for that month.
He also said he reversed the alterations and cleaned the unit before he and wasn't responsible for any claimed damage.
Tribunal member David Jiang ruled Cadeau had not fully reversed the alterations, however, and ordered him to pay $2,572.50 for the work the co-op had to do as well as $288.75 for the replacement of blinds in the unit.
But Jiang agreed with Cadeau about the November housing charges and the cleaning costs.
Jiang noted the co-op had done extensive renovations in the unit after Cadeau moved out and would have had to clean it anyway.
Jiang also dismissed Cadeau's counterclaim for $2,205 in moving expenses.
Cadeau had alleged the co-op had treated him unfairly and repeatedly threatened to revoke his membership.
He also claimed the co-op had failed to enforce its smoking rules on his next-door neighbours, which "eroded his enjoyment of his home and threatened the health and safety of his family" forcing him to move, according to the ruling.
The co-op claimed Cadeau was moving because he'd bought a house, and Jiang ultimately found there wasn't enough proof to show the co-op had acted unfairly.
"I find the evidence falls short of showing that Mr. Cadeau moved because of any alleged failure by Edmonds to respond to Mr. Cadeau’s complaints," he said.
His counterclaim was dismissed and Cadeau was ordered to pay a total of $3,190.15, including the co-op's tribunal fees.
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