Other occupants had already left the four-unit building. The CBC does not name the tenant to protect the privacy of her 10-year-old daughter. The tenant’s lawyer said her client was happy with the result. “She’s fine, I think she was relieved,” Tammy Wohler, chief attorney at Nova Scotia Legal Aid’s social justice office, told CBC after the trial. “He believes the message should be out there to the owners.” In his decision Wednesday night at the Bridgewater Justice Center, Judge Brent Silver told landlord Colin Edwards that he had broken the rules while the tenant was following them. “He tried to get you to retreat and the power was cut off. I have no choice but to create an order saying you did not give the proper eviction notice. You have breached the procedures. The tenant is entitled to compensation,” Silver said. The tenant had already gone to the rental office and successfully received an order to keep the notice to leave the building on Fox Street. The rent clerk’s decision was issued on March 31, 2022 – the day before her water cut.
Invalid notifications
Edwards, the landlord, said he did not know the order and assumed the tenant had already left for good the day the water cut off. Months ago, he had written many emails to all the occupants of the building telling them to make other living arrangements because demolition work would begin soon. But the email notifications he sent were invalid and invalid because they were sent during the so-called Nova Scotia renewal ban. A renovation is when a landlord evicts a tenant to make room for renovations. Nova Scotia banned the practice in November 2020. The measure lasted until March 22, 2022, when the pandemic emergency was lifted. After March 22, the ban was replaced by a new set of renovation rules. Tenants must be notified at least three months and if a tenant does not agree to leave, the landlord must apply for a eviction order. Edwards did not attend a virtual rental board meeting set up to address the tenant’s concerns. He said he wrote a letter to the board and thought that by doing so, the meeting would be canceled. Silver told him that the argument that his letter canceled the meeting “had no value”. She told him it was a “careless behavior”. The owner, Colin Edwards, bought the building in Lunenburg’s Old Town with plans to uproot it completely and make major renovations. (Brett Ruskin / CBC) During Edwards ‘testimony, he talked about how he bought the apartment because it was damaged and close to his parents’ house. He said he wanted to turn it into a three-story from a two-story and possibly a senior-friendly housing. He said he was trying to be “against the slum”. As he explained his plans, he commented on how his family had “endured parties, rubbish and chaos” while living near the building. This comment seemed to hit the judge’s nerves. “There is an element of high spirit on your part … I found it a little unpleasant,” Silver said during his decision. Silver told Edwards that he should have taken the time to review the rules before starting any work on the building. “If you did that, you could do your job now,” Silver said.
“I followed the spirit of the ban,” says the owner
Edwards told CBC News he was disappointed with the decision. “My position was that I was in the spirit of the ban and no tenant was explicitly informed that they had to leave the building during the Emergency Order with the rents kept in a status quo since I bought the building in August 2020. he wrote in an email. He said his plan for senior-friendly housing is pending at the moment. “Clearly, some landlords have created this mess by evicting tenants just to add a coat of paint and a few bucks to laminate flooring in an apartment before turning around and doubling the rent, and the court ruled that it should send a message to these landlords. “
Upcoming hearing of the rental council
The money that will be awarded will cover the rental expenses of the tenant, the gas and a storage unit. Wohler said homeowners have a responsibility to be aware of their rights and obligations under the law. “The reality is that landlords simply can not force tenants under any circumstances. They always demand an eviction order and there is a legal process for that,” Wohler said. The tenant now lives in a one-bedroom apartment. There will be a board hearing in the future because Edwards is seeking compensation for an unpaid electricity bill.
