LTB Order LTB-T-004324-23

O. under Section 30 2023 ONLTB 48816 (CanLII) Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 Citation: R. v L., 2023 ONLTB 48816 Date: 2023-07-11 File Number: LTB-T-004324-23 In the matter of: 2, 1781 Hwy 11 West Hearst Ontario P0L1N0 Between: B. R. T. A. K. L. L. B. R. (the 'T.') A. F. an O. D. T. K. L. (the 'L.') failed to meet the L.'s maintenance obligations under the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 (the 'Act') or failed to comply with health, safety, housing or maintenance standards. This application was heard by videoconference on May 16, 2023. The L. A. the T. attended the hearing. Determinations: 1. The T.’s T6 application is brought pursuant to s.29(1) Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 (the ‘Act’), which alleges the L. has breach an obligation under s.20(1): A L. is responsible F. providing A. maintaining a residential complex, including the rental units in it, in a good state of repair A. fit F. habitation A. F. complying with health, safety, housing A. maintenance standards 2. The T. moved into the ground-floor rental unit on January 1, 2020 A. vacated the rental unit on August 31, 2022. The monthly rent was $750.00. 3. F. the reasons T. follow, I find the T. has proven on a balance of probabilities T. the L. breached its maintenance obligations under s.20(1) of the Act. O. Page 1 of 4 4. The T.’s alleges there is a 2-foot crawl space below the T.’s unit which accumulated raw sewage over a 3 month-period after a sewage pipe burst. According to the T., raw sewage would flush onto the ground below the T.’s rental, resulting in an unbearable foul odour T. caused his eyes to burn. 2023 ONLTB 48816 (CanLII) 5. Moreover, as the underground holding tank was full, the T. indicated T. upon flushing the toilet, sewage would continually overflow back into the rental unit through the bathtub drain A. sinks in the rental unit. File Number: LTB-T-004324-23 6. The T. advised the L. of the sewage accumulation on February 14, 2022 A. multiple times thereafter. It is not disputed T. the issue was rectified on May 5, 2022 when the source of the problem was identified A. the raw sewage was pumped out. 7. The L. testified she engaged a plumber to attend at the property multiple times to snake the toilet A. address the T.’s concerns. She acknowledged the municipality was called at the T.’s request, at which point, the pipe burst causing sewage to accumulate below the T.’s unit was discovered. She indicated the issue was rectified soon upon becoming aware of the problem source. 8. In Onyskiw v. CJM Property Management (“Oniskew”), the Ontario Court of Appeal 2016 ONCA 477 (CanLII) provided a guiding framework F. the analysis of alleged breaches of section 20 of the Act. The Court of Appeal urged a “contextual approach” to the analysis of maintenance A. repair issues A. rejected T. an interruption of service or occurrence of a problem constitutes an automatic breach of the Act. 9. Here, it appears T. the L. was taking insufficient steps to identify A. correct the serious maintenance issue raised by the T. in a timely manner. I find the L. could have acted more diligently in detecting the source of the problem A. T. the sewage odour A. backflow into the T.’s rental unit significantly affected the T.’s use A. enjoyment of the rental unit to the point of nearly rendering the rental unit uninhabitable. 10. The T. sought a rent abatement F. 3 months, in the amount of $2250. I am awarding the T. an 85% abatement of rent from February 20, 2022 (1 week after the issue was brought to the L.’s attention) through to May 5, 2022 (date problem rectified), F. a total abatement of $1,550.00. The T. also sought $200.00 F. 10 hours spent cleaning whenever there was a backflow A. produced a picture of a bathtub containing brown/ sewage water. It is clear the T. was required to expend a significant amount of time O. Page 2 of 4  cleaning the rental unit during this unfortunate period of time, A. thus, this request is granted. It is ordered T.: 2023 ONLTB 48816 (CanLII) 1. The L. shall pay to the T. a rent abatement of $1,750.00 2. The L. will pay the filing fee to the T. in the amount of $53.00. 3. The total amount the L. shall pay to the T. is $1,803.00. File Number: LTB-T-004324-23 4. If the L. does not pay the T. the full amount owing by July 22, 2023 the L. will owe interest. This will be simple interest calculated from July 23, 2023, at 6.00% annually on the outstanding balance. July 11, 2023 ____________________________ Date Issued Peter Nicholson Member, L. A. T. Board 15 Grosvenor Street, Ground Floor, Toronto ON M7A 2G6 If you have any questions about this O., call 416-645-8080 or toll free at 1-888-332-3234. O. Page 3 of 4 O. Page 4 of 4 2023 ONLTB 48816 (CanLII)