Victoria landlord to pay tenant $30K for noise, asbestos exposure after judge strikes down challenge
Victoria landlord to pay tenant $30K for noise, asbestos exposure after judge strikes down challenge
The apartment building at 435 Michigan St. in Victoria's James Bay neighbourhood. (Google Maps)
A Victoria landlord and property management company must pay more than $30,000 in damages and rental reduction to a tenant who complained of exposure to asbestos and excessive noise while their apartment building was renovated.
Owner IMH 415 & 435 Michigan Apartments Ltd., and Devon Properties, which manages the Charter House Apartments at 435 Michigan St. in Victoria, petitioned the British Columbia Supreme Court to review a 2022 decision by the Residential Tenancy Branch that found in favour of the tenant.
The arbitrator in the case awarded the resident $30,721.75, which included approximately $11,500 for loss of balcony use and the landlord's failure to maintain the building in reasonable condition during construction.
The company challenged two other portions of the award: $10,000 for aggravated damages due to ongoing health concerns about asbestos exposure, and $9,242.62 in rental abatement for loss of enjoyment during jackhammering and other construction noise.
The landlord argued the aggravated damages and rent reduction were unreasonable, saying no medical evidence was provided to support the tenant's concerns about asbestos exposure.
It also said there was no clarity about how the total amount of the award was arrived at.
B.C. Supreme Court Justice Simon Coval dismissed the challenge Thursday, ruling the arbitrator's award of reduced rent was warranted given the scope and duration of the disturbance during the years-long construction project.
"The extent, length and timing of construction noise should have been manifestly obvious to the building manager throughout the renovation," Coval wrote in his decision.
The judge also found the aggravated damages were warranted based on the arbitrator's conclusion "that the landlord’s mismanagement of the project exposed the tenants to hazardous levels of asbestos and silica fibres, and caused [the tenant] serious, ongoing distress and anguish."
The renovations at 435 Michigan St. were ongoing from December 2015 to November 2019. WorkSafeBC issued multiple stop work orders in 2016 due to deficiencies in asbestos handling and abatement, according to the judge's decision.
The concerns about asbestos eventually prompted the property managers to evacuate the building in January 2017, moving all tenants to a nearby hotel for several weeks while tests were completed.
Canada's jobless rate ticked higher to 5.2 per cent in May, marking the first increase since August 2022 as economists have been watching for any sign of a softening labour market.
The father of Tori Stafford, an Ontario girl who was murdered in 2009, says the latest decision to transfer convicted killer Paul Bernardo to a minimum security prison is a 'slap in the face' to all murder victims' families.
Donald Trump said Thursday that he was indicted for mishandling classified documents at his Florida estate, a remarkable development that makes him the first former president in U.S. history to face criminal charges by the federal government that he once oversaw.
A little white pill has given Syrian President Bashar Assad powerful leverage with his Arab neighbours, who have been willing to bring him out of pariah status in hopes he will stop the flow of highly addictive Captagon amphetamines out of Syria.
Smoke and flames continue to engulf much of Canada, with Alberta imposing new evacuation orders, Manitoba bracing for heavy, lightning-generating thunderstorms and high wildfire risks and poor air quality from coast to coast.
'Kids are being massacred in their schools, literally … their heads are being decapitated because of the power of an assault bullet, (which) is unlike anything, no other weapon,' says gun violence prevention activist Samuel Schwartz, who is among the organizers of a sit-in demanding change on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.
Tumbler Ridge, a community with a population of 2,400 in northeastern B.C., has been ordered to evacuate Thursday due to the danger posed by an encroaching wildfire.
A day after the NDP government presented its 30-point plan to address the crisis at Surrey Memorial Hospital, the official Opposition is pledging to build a tower, while acknowledging their role in the situation.
Court records show defrocked Oblate priest Eric Dejaeger is facing six charges of indecent assault and two charges of sexual assault for crimes he allegedly committed in Nunavut between 1978 and 1982.
Video has surfaced showing a Mississauga, Ont. transit bus plowing into stopped traffic in a crash that left one person dead and at least eight injured on Thursday morning.
Quebec's precarious wildfire situation is expected to remain stable over the next 48 hours but residents displaced by the raging forest fires likely won't be able to return home until early next week, Premier Francois Legault said Thursday.
An Ontario man charged Wednesday with first-degree murder in the death of Claudia Iacono, the daughter-in-law of the late Montreal Mafia associate Moreno Gallo, was arrested the day after the killing in Ontario on unrelated drug charges, public records show.
Lyme disease in Quebec was back on the rise in 2021, following a brief slowdown in 2020. Of the 650 cases of Lyme disease acquired in Quebec, Estrie was again the most affected region. With 452 cases, it accounts for nearly 70 per cent of all infections in the province.
The Halifax Regional Municipality says it will announce Thursday when more residents can return to their homes in communities impacted by the Tantallon wildfires.
New Brunswick students under the age of 16 who identify as trans and non-binary won't be able to officially change their names or pronouns in school without parental consent.
Two years after two statues were knocked down and damaged at the Manitoba Legislature, one is now back up and Indigenous leaders are upset by the decision.
Scoring the opening goal of game three of the Stanley Cup finals wasn’t the only celebration Florida Panthers defenceman Brandon Montour was a part of this week.
University of Guelph (U of G) researchers have been looking at ways to breed dairy cows that burp out less methane, a harmful greenhouse gas emission contributing to climate change.
Canada's jobless rate ticked higher to 5.2 per cent in May, marking the first increase since August 2022 as economists have been watching for any sign of a softening labour market.
A man who killed his ex-wife’s cousin will spend life in prison with no chance of parole for 15 years, a judge decided on Thursday at Saskatoon’s Court of King’s Bench.
Canada's jobless rate ticked higher to 5.2 per cent in May, marking the first increase since August 2022 as economists have been watching for any sign of a softening labour market.
Thousands of Canadians have had to leave their homes in several provinces over the last few weeks due to forest fires. Luckily, there are steps you can take to protect your property, both prior to an evacuation and during.
The apartment building at 435 Michigan St. in Victoria's James Bay neighbourhood. (Google Maps)
