Stenka v. Garten

Tenant wins · 2023-10-30

Adjudicator

Nishikawa J.

Dispute

Unauthorized Occupant

Landlord

I.G., Mayer Investments Ltd.

Tenant

E.S., J.P.

Landlord rep

Alan McConnell

What happened

The Landlord filed an application to evict Tenant as an unauthorized occupant after the original tenant moved out. The Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) initially denied the eviction, but on review ordered the Tenant to vacate. The Tenant appealed the review decision to the Divisional Court.

The ruling

The Divisional Court granted the Tenant's appeal of the LTB review decision. The court found that the LTB review process was procedurally unfair because the Member failed to properly determine if there was a serious error in the initial decision before conducting a de novo hearing, and improperly refused to allow cross-examination on a key issue. The matter was remitted back to the LTB for a new review hearing before a different member.