Smith v Boase

Tenant wins · Cumberland Beach · 2024-11-05

Adjudicator

Melissa Anjema

Dispute

Harassment, Withholding Vital Services

Amount

<$5K

Landlord

T.B.

Tenant

M.S.

What happened

Tenant applied for an order determining that the Landlord harassed, obstructed, coerced, threatened or interfered with the Tenant, and withheld or interfered with their vital services. The Landlord frequently questioned the Tenant about electricity usage, turned off the power and Wi-Fi, and played loud religious programming near the Tenant's unit. The Landlord also gave the Tenant eviction notices verbally and by text for various reasons.

The ruling

The Landlord harassed the Tenant and withheld a vital service by turning off the electricity. The Tenant is awarded a 30% rent abatement for 5 months ($1,650) and 5 months of rent differential ($3,000), plus the application fee ($48), for a total of $4,698 to be paid by the Landlord to the Tenant.