BC landlord to pay year's rent after renoviction
A BC landlord was ordered to pay a year's worth of rent to former tenants after they were evicted and told the landlord would be moving in.
Aesuk Kim bought the Coquitlam house in 2021, where William McMaster and Cynthia Wohlford were renting for $2,559 per month.
Kim told them she would be moving in and they had two months to move out, according to a recent BC Supreme Court decision.
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The former tenants checked on the property and found it was boarded up and torn down less than three months after Kim was supposed to be living there, according to the decision.
An arbitrator for the Residential Tenancy Branch found Kim took "no steps" to move into the property after she bought it, according to the decision.
Kim was ordered to pay $30,708 to McMaster and Wohlford by the Residential Tenancy Branch in a May 2022 decision, but she challenged the order in BC Supreme Court.
Kim claimed she decided to tear down the home after finding asbestos, lead and other dangerous chemicals inside, which she did move back into once it was rebuilt.
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But the need to demolish the house isn't the reason she took the appeal to court.
McMaster and Wohlford's notice of dispute was mailed to Kim's former North Vancouver home, but they were not aware she sold that home. It was never returned to the sender.
Kim claimed she was not given advance notice of the tenancy branch hearing dates, but then missed multiple deadlines to appeal that decision.
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She only learned there was a ruling against her in August 2022 when the Land Title and Survey Authority send a certificate of judgment to her business address in Port Coquitlam, she said.
Justice Christopher Hinkson dismissed Kim's appeal because she should have appealed within 60 days, rather than the 150 days she waited to file for a review.
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