Fry v Andrews

Tenant wins · Niagara-On-The-Lake · 2024-01-05

Adjudicator

Sonia Anwar-Ali

Dispute

Tenant Rights

Landlord

T.A., S.E.

Tenant

J.F., P.F.

Landlord rep

Jennifer Priestly

Tenant rep

Harry Fieguth

What happened

Jay Fry and Patricia Fry (the 'Tenant') applied for an order to determine whether the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 (the 'Act') applies. The Tenant moved into the rental unit on June 1, 2013 and had an informal agreement with the former landlord, Susanna Meldrum, to maintain the property in lieu of paying rent from July 2015 to June 2016. The current landlords, Timothy Andrews and Sandra Edgeworth, purchased the property in May 2022 and served notices to the Tenants to vacate the premises.

The ruling

The Landlord and Tenant Board found that the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 applies to this tenancy, despite the Landlords' arguments that the Tenants were merely occupants. The Board determined that the informal agreement between the former landlord and Tenants constitutes a tenancy agreement, and the Tenants meet the definition of 'tenant' under the Act.