$50K in unpaid rent over five years nets fine for BC woman
A BC woman could have saved enough for a down payment with the amount she stiffed her landlords over five years.
In what appeared to be a planned scheme, she left eight landlords short nearly $50,000 in combined unpaid rent, according to a recent Residential Tenancy Branch decision.
Scott McGregor, of the Residential Tenancy Branch's enforcement division, said it was "more likely than not" that Colleen June Clancy entered each new tenancy with no intention to pay rent.
Although she did pay portions of her rent at times, some of her landlords issued eviction notices within the first month or two of moving in.
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She would challenge the eviction with the Residential Tenancy Branch each time, extending her stay by months. Some lasted just a few months in total and, aside from one 15-month tenancy, they were all less than a year.
Clancy wasn't living alone, but she was the only one named in the recently published decision, landing her a $5,000 penalty on top of the backrent she still hasn't returned.
Where she was living isn't clear as the names of landlords and the addresses of those homes are redacted from the decision, as are any other tenants she was living with. However, court records show she was likely living in the Victoria area.
Of the $49,069 that went unpaid from 2018 to 2023, one of the eight landlords accounted for more than a third. Around $19,000 was unpaid from a seven-month tenancy. That landlord issued the first of two 10-day eviction notices within her second month.
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In seven of the eight tenancies, she was ordered to repay at least some of what she owed. This one did include an order, but it was the only tenancy where Clancy and the landlord first negotiated a settlement with a payment plan.
The landlord went to court and had the repayment ordered when she failed to produce a single negotiated payment.
She's been ordered to repay a total $43,024 to the landlords she owes, accumulated since 2018.
The only one that hasn't included a repayment order was during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. She moved in before the pandemic began and, as soon as the province introduced a freeze on evictions, Clancy stopped paying rent.
That landlord was missed out on the second-highest amount, with $11,200 in unpaid rent.
How the unpaid rent affected the landlords isn't detailed in the decision, at least not financially. One couple did tell investigators the ordeal was stressful and the husband went through months of counselling because of it.
The $5,000 penalty is entirely separate from the unpaid rent owed to the eight landlords, however.
An investigation began in June 2022, ending with a decision in December. She was given until Feb. 29 to repay it, with the warning that it would add up for each unpaid day. She also risks criminal charges.
Online court records show she hasn't been charged, but it's not clear whether Clancy has paid the $5,000 fine. As of December, she had not repaid any of the landlords.
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