An arbitrator in a twisty Residential Tenancy Branch complaint has denied a landlord full restitution after a Burnaby tenant “horribly stained” a home’s carpeting before moving out.
That’s from the results of an RTB dispute resolution hearing that shows how rulings are doled out.
The tenant was moving out in 2021, but the landlord flagged significant stains to the carpet, which cost thousands of dollars when it was installed before the renter moved in.
The claim says the carpets were “horribly stained” in multiple rooms, including the den, master bedroom and two other bedrooms. The landlord said that they had spent money on trying to clean the carpets, but the stains were too terrible to come out. The claim insists the carpet needs to be replaced in all of the rooms – at a cost of $4,500 – because there are no natural breaks and can’t be done piecemeal.
One issue is how the report documenting the damage was compiled.
The tenant alleged the landlord altered the report and that the damage was limited to the den and the master bedroom. The landlord, meanwhile, said the tenant was being “difficult” and would not complete report – something the tenant denied.
The ruling says that while the two sides have different versions of the move-out inspection, “the onus is on the landlord to prove their version of the events.”
The ruling says the landlord should have had a witness or a video of the moving-out inspection to back up their claims. Since the tenant denied the carpet in the two other bedrooms was damaged, the ruling denied the claim for those two rooms.
The ruling also says the invoice submitted for the new carpet replacement is much higher than the original and the tenant shouldn’t have to pay the difference.
“The landlord is not entitled to receive a better product than what was to be replaced,” the ruling says.
Using a depreciation formula, the ruling approved a monetary claim of about $1,187 – far below more than $5,000 requested by the landlord. The ruling says the landlord can keep the $1,000 damage deposit and the tenant owes the rest.
Follow Chris Campbell on Twitter @shinebox44.
