Kelowna landlord wins monetary order against tenant after months-long ordeal
Claudia Li-Gordon says she is out nearly $30,000 after a tenancy dispute that required a bailiff and a Supreme Court stay.
KELOWNA · A Kelowna woman has been awarded a monetary order against a former tenant after a lengthy dispute over unpaid rent. Claudia Li-Gordon says she does not expect to actually receive the money. She estimates the process cost her family nearly $30,000 in lost rent and expenses. The ordeal involved the Residential Tenancy Branch, the B.C. Supreme Court and a bailiff to enforce an eviction. Li-Gordon says she is sharing her story to warn other landlords.
Li-Gordon and her family decided to rent out their former Wilden home after it failed to sell following six or seven months on the market. She found a tenant through a local community Facebook page. "I answered an ad that was in our Wilden community Facebook page and thought that was probably pretty safe," Li-Gordon said. "Interviewed her and had her look at the house... seemed very legit. Did my references, did all my checks, and it ended up turning into the biggest nightmare."
The tenant moved in last December, but by March, Li-Gordon was posting late-payment notices. An eviction notice was served in June. "We aren't seasoned landlords. We are not a property management company. We are just mom and pop who needed to rent our house," she said. The Residential Tenancy Branch ordered the tenant to leave by August, but on the scheduled move-out day, the tenant obtained an emergency stay from the B.C. Supreme Court.
READ MORE: Kelowna commercial real estate market steady as investors focus on retail fundamentals
READ MORE: Brazil betting industry challenges Lula's gaming ban in Supreme Court
Li-Gordon and her husband then had to secure a writ of possession and hire a bailiff, who removed the tenant the next day. The family used their savings to cover a second mortgage during the dispute. A Residential Tenancy Branch arbitrator has since ordered the former tenant to pay Li-Gordon $15,797.58. The ruling stated the tenant failed to pay $18,700 in rent from June through September, when the monthly rate was $6,000.
The arbitrator acknowledged the tenant faced personal and financial challenges but said those circumstances did not excuse the failure to pay rent. Li-Gordon is thankful for the decision but holds little hope of recovering her losses. "It was one of the biggest stresses I think I've ever gone through my entire life, and I just want other people to be aware," she said. She advises other landlords to use available resources to check tenant histories.
Li-Gordon pointed to the B.C. Supreme Court website where public records can be searched by name. "It's so hard because you think you're doing all your due diligence, and at the end of the day, it could be lies on your application, and you wouldn't know," she said. Landlords can look up prospective tenants through provincial databases like Court Services Online and the Residential Tenancy Branch's public decisions portal. Since most disputes are resolved by the branch, a search of court records alone may not provide a complete history. While the branch typically anonymizes its rulings, decisions involving monetary awards include the names of both the landlord and the tenant.
With files from Castanet