Ashcroft v Ryan

Tenant wins · Fort Frances · 2025-07-03

Adjudicator

Dawn Carr

Dispute

Illegal Charge/Retained Money, Tenant Rights

Amount

<$5K

Landlord

R.R.

Tenant

D.M.A.

Landlord rep

Gavin Marchuk

What happened

The Tenant applied for a refund of money collected or retained illegally by the Landlord. The dispute centers on a rent deposit and first month's rent paid for a tenancy that was intended to start on July 1, 2024. While the Tenant received keys, the unit required significant cleaning and repairs. Disagreements arose regarding the move-in timeline and the state of the unit, leading the Tenant to decide not to take possession and the Landlord to subsequently threaten the Tenant with police action for entering the property. The LTB had to determine if the Landlord was entitled to keep the rent deposit to cover a notice period.

The ruling

The Landlord is ordered to pay the Tenant $1,948.00 by July 14, 2025. This amount includes the return of the $1,900.00 rent deposit and the $48.00 application filing fee. The Member determined that the Landlord effectively ended the tenancy on July 31, 2024, by threatening the Tenant with police charges for entering the property, thereby forfeiting the right to claim rent for a notice period.