A strange case involving a Burnaby woman who wanted access to her dead boyfriend’s rental unit hit the B.C. Residential Tenancy Branch.
A dispute resolution ruling details how a Burnaby woman was being barred by the landlord from entering the suite that had been occupied by her boyfriend. The hearing heard that the woman had previously filed a restraining order against the boyfriend. That order was still in effect when the man died.
Since his death, she was looking for access to “clear out” the tenant’s unit and the case offers a look into how such cases are handled.
When the tenant moved in, he filled out a form listing his next of kin, but the woman was not named in the document. The woman also lived in the same building as the dead tenant, but isn’t listed on the lease agreement.
The woman was, however, a big part of the dead tenant’s life and listed in some documents, like a will.
“She has a certified copy of the tenant’s last will and testament that shows she is the sole executor of the tenant’s financial affairs,” reads the ruling, adding that the will had not been probated yet in court.
“The applicant submits that the will allows her to enter the tenant’s unit to distribute the tenant’s worldly belongings as she sees fit and to retrieve her own possessions from the tenant’s suite.”
The RTB arbitrator, however, said that despite the will, since she isn’t listed as a next of kin and doesn’t have a signed lease agreement for that unit, she has no right to enter it and so her application was denied.
