A Burnaby landlord is crying foul after getting stuck with a big plumbing bill for what he says was a washing machine broken by the tenants.
I was contacted by Scott in Burnaby who was fed up with some of my columns that were critical of local landlords. I have also written about bad tenants and am happy to share Scott’s story.
Scott was contacted by his tenants because the washing machine was not working.
“On the floor was about 40 pounds of wet laundry he had hauled out of the washer, there were rocks the size of marbles and gravel in the washer,” Scott said. “These are two-year-old, brand-new Hitachi SS washer and dryer. The filter was plugged with dirt, hair, etc. After cleaning all the stuff out, the washer would not reset. The plumber shows up to the tune of $140 an hour. Is this normal wear and tear? Washer abuse? I call it misuse and damage.”
And yet, according to the Residential Tenancy Branch, the landlord is the one who has to pay for the repairs.
Does that seem fair?
The RTB was, however, kinder to a Burnaby landlord who wanted to evict his renter for being really, really dirty – leading to an infestation of cockroaches.
The landlord applied to the RTB to terminate the lease because the renter hadn’t lived up to one of the lease conditions that the home be kept with a minimum of health and sanitary standards.
The dirty conditions led to a cockroach infestation, but the tenant has refused to accommodate efforts to have a pest control company treat the place, a hearing heard, including moving his personal possessions.
“The tenant is also aggressive and rude with other occupants, the landlord’s agent, and with the pest control inspector,” reads the ruling.
The RTB arbitrator agreed with the landlord. The ruling says the landlord had provided sufficient evidence, including multiple written cautions asking the tenant to clean up the unit. The arbitrator also found there was a significant risk to the landlord’s property from the cockroaches and that the tenant was “impeding” efforts to treat the infestation.
Follow Chris Campbell on Twitter @shinebox44.
