Arora v Wieleba

Tenant wins · 2016-05-26

Adjudicator

J. Sebastian Winny

Dispute

Non-payment of Rent

Landlord

S.A.

Tenant

E.W.

Landlord rep

A. Arora

Tenant rep

T. Ellis

What happened

Landlord sued former tenant for seven months of unpaid rent totaling $4,375. Tenant denied liability, claiming she signed the lease under duress, that section 12(4) of the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 provided a complete defense, and that the landlord failed to mitigate damages.

The ruling

The landlord's claim for unpaid rent was dismissed due to failure to comply with section 12(2) of the Residential Tenancies Act, which requires providing a signed copy of the lease to the tenant. This failure triggered section 12(4), suspending the tenant's obligation to pay rent. The court awarded costs of $700 to the tenant.