While living in close proximity to your neighbours can cause a host of issues, some of them are pretty common and can be ignored—at least for the most part.
But some problems stem from pretty irrational behaviour.
According to B.C.'s Residential Tenancy Act (RTA), landlords are responsible for providing quiet enjoyment to all tenants. Upon getting a disturbance complaint from a tenant, the landlord must take steps to fix the problem. For example, a landlord may need to speak to a tenant about noise if it bothers neighbouring tenants.
Tenants must make sure they, their guests and their pets don’t unreasonably disturb other occupants; landlords must also ensure that they don't unreasonably disturb renters.
Yelling about everything and anything
In one particularly noisy tenancy dispute, a female tenant claimed that her landlord's wife would yell at her about various topics frequently. Some of these included flushing the toilet, closing the window, using the air conditioner, and using her washer and dryer. In one incident, she alleged that the wife even came into her unit and shut off her dryer.
The renter also stated that the wife didn't want her to have her boyfriend sleep over because they would have sex and it was a "family home." The landlords lived in the suite above her.
But the wife reportedly wasn't only concerned about what she considered sexual impropriety.
The tenant said the landlord's wife was even "displeased" that her boyfriend was monitoring and flipping some chicken on an outdoor barbecue.
In response to the allegations, the landlord stated that he was unaware of any instances where his wife yelled at the tenant. He also noted that the backyard was for the exclusive use of the landlords.
In this dispute, however, the Residential Tenancy Branch wasn't buying the landlord's side of the story. The RTB ruled in favour of the tenant because she had submitted a log of the abusive behaviour and also because the couple did not dispute that it had happened when it was first presented to them in the dispute.
The renter was asking for a whopping $1,800 for loss of quiet enjoyment, however. The RTB found this amount to be "unreasonable" and she was entitled to 25 per cent of her rent for the last two months, which equalled $450.
