Pshenichny v Zhang

Tenant wins · Newmarket · 2025-04-11

Adjudicator

Benjamin Seigel

Dispute

Bad Faith Eviction, Illegal Collection Or Retention Of Money

Notice

Personal use (N12)

Amount

<$5K

Landlord

S.Z., X.P.

Tenant

P.P., M.W.V.

Landlord rep

Wen Liu

What happened

Tenants filed an application claiming their Landlords issued a notice for personal use in bad faith. The notice was not on a formal LTB form but was communicated verbally and via email. The Tenants secured a new rental and planned to move out. Five days before their move-out date, the Landlords retracted the notice, stating their circumstances (a marital separation) had changed as they decided to reconcile. After the Tenants moved out, the Landlords advertised the unit for a higher rent. The LTB Member had to determine if the informal notice was valid for a bad faith claim and if the Landlords had, in fact, acted in bad faith.

The ruling

The Tenants' primary application for a bad faith eviction was dismissed. The Board found the Landlords successfully rebutted the presumption of bad faith by proving a genuine change in their personal circumstances. However, the Board determined the Landlords' informal communication was equivalent to an N12 notice and they had failed to pay the mandatory one month's rent compensation. Therefore, the Landlords are ordered to pay the Tenants $2,748.00, representing one month's rent ($2,700.00) plus the Tenants' application filing fee ($48.00).