B.C. landlord loses bid to evict renter over $3K in unpaid utilities

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A landlord's attempt to evict a renter from a home in B.C.'s Lower Mainland over thousands of dollars in unpaid utilities has been rejected due to vague wording in their tenancy agreement.

The dispute is outlined in an arbitration decision from the province's Residential Tenancy Branch, which shares the outcomes online as a resource for other landlords and renters but does not publish names or any other identifying information.

In this case, which was heard over the summer, the landlord presented six utility bills from the City of Richmond, along with a letter delivered to the tenant in April 2022 demanding payment for three-quarters of the total amount owed – which came to just under $3,000.

When the tenant didn't pony up the cash, the landlord issued a 10-day eviction notice the following month.

B.C.'s Residential Tenancy Act allows landlords to treat unpaid utilities as unpaid rent, which can be grounds for an eviction in some circumstances – but the arbitrator found the conditions weren't quite met in this case.

The decision noted that the tenancy agreement between the landlord and renter "states the utilities are the tenant's responsibility, but does not indicate whether the tenant is to put the utilities in their own name or pay the utilities to the landlord."

"For this reason, I find the landlord did not have the authority … to issue a 10-day notice for unpaid utilities."

The landlord also tried to recover the $100 fee paid when filing the dispute, but that was denied as well.

While the tenant was allowed to remain at the home, the arbitrator did offer the landlord a chance to re-apply for an order seeking payment of the unpaid utilities.