My tenant has filed a claim against me after I moved into the property for my own use. I had to rent a room because I was facing financial difficulties. What can I do to defend myself?

It seems that the former tenant may have filed a T5 application claiming that you had given her a notice that you required the unit she occupied to live in for your own use in bad faith. For this to succeed, she would have to prove that you did not truly intend to occupy her rental unit as promised in the notice.

The test to be met in the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 is in Section 57 (1) (a)

“57 (1) The Board may make an order described in subsection (3) if, on application by a former tenant of a rental unit, the Board determines that,

(a) the landlord gave a notice of termination under section 48 in bad faith, the former tenant vacated the rental unit as a result of the notice or as a result of an application to or order made by the Board based on the notice, and no person referred to in clause 48 (1) (a), (b), (c) or (d) occupied the rental unit within a reasonable time after the former tenant vacated the rental unit;…”

This particular situation (involving bad faith application to the Board) is fairly common, especially where the tenant was not happy to move. If your tenant wins their case, as of September 1, 2021 you could be ordered to pay,

  • an amount of increased rent for up to 1 year,
  • an amount of up to 12 months’ rent charged to the former tenant,
  • an amount for reasonable out-of-pocket expenses,
  • an administrative fine not exceeding the greater of $10,000 and the monetary jurisdiction of the Small Claims Court, and
  • other penalties as deemed appropriate by the adjudicator.

You have to show your situation in context. This means explaining your timeline of when you moved in, and if the move in was delayed, what the reason was for the delay. If you rented one room for financial reasons, then you can show this and your expenses during the hearing (the tenant would also have to be given a copy of anything you introduce as evidence).

Skip to content