Dispute Resolution for Tenants

Do prepare well for a hearing and make sure you submit all your evidence on time. Don’t show up late or miss a dispute resolution hearing altogether. You may not get another chance.

What is dispute resolution?

Tenants in BC are protected by the Residential Tenancy Act. This is the law that makes rules for tenants and landlords. You may be able to use the Act to deal with problems you have with your landlord, by going to dispute resolution at the Residential Tenancy Branch. A dispute resolution hearing is like a landlord-tenant “court”. You can ask a dispute resolution officer to interpret the rules in the Residential Tenancy Act. For example, you can ask for repairs, or dispute an eviction notice. Dispute hearings can be held in person at the Residential Tenancy Branch, or over the phone by conference call. At the hearing, you can present evidence, and bring witnesses. The dispute resolution officer will decide what to do about the problem, based on an interpretation of the law and your evidence. You and your landlord must obey the decision.

Rules and procedures

Rules of Procedure are posted on the Residential Tenancy Branch Web site. These rules can give you an idea of how the hearing is conducted. It is also useful to look at the Interpretation Guidelines on that Web site. The Guidelines help explain what is meant by certain parts of the Residential Tenancy Act and are meant to assist dispute resolution officers in making their decisions.

Time limits

You must apply for dispute resolution within a certain number of days if you are responding to a notice from your landlord. For example, you only have a few days to challenge an eviction notice. The time limits for dispute resolution are written on the notices the landlord gives you. If you don’t know how much time you have to apply for dispute resolution, immediately take the notice to the nearest Residential Tenancy Branch, Government Agent or Service BC Centre.

Early Resolution

You can phone the Residential Tenancy Branch and ask an Information Officer to phone the landlord on your behalf if you believe that the issue can be resolved easily by having the Information Officer explain to the landlord that he is acting in a way that is not allowed under the Residential Tenancy Act. Make sure that you take note of the Information Officer’s name. How to apply

Where do I apply?

You can apply for a dispute resolution hearing at the Residential Tenancy Branch. There are Branch offices in Burnaby, Victoria, and Kelowna. If there is no office in your area, you can apply through the Government Agent, or Service BC Centre close to where you live (look in the blue pages of the phone book, under “Government of BC” or go to the Service BC website.

Fee

It costs $50 to apply for a dispute resolution hearing unless you are claiming an amount over $5,000 in which case it is $100. You can pay in cash, certified cheque or money order made out to: Minister of Finance. If you win your case, the dispute resolution officer can order the landlord to pay you back the fee if you request it on your application.

If you have a low income, you can ask for a fee waiver so you don’t have to pay. You need to fill out a form called Application to Waive Filing Fee. Bring proof of your income, and be ready to give information about your income and expenses.

Applying online

You can submit an online Application for Dispute Resolution form over the Internet to request a hearing before a dispute resolution officer to resolve a dispute. The filing fee must be paid online by credit card. The Residential Tenancy Branch will then send you information by e-mail about how and when the hearing will be held, how to prepare the hearing packages that you must serve on the respondent(s), and other information related to the dispute resolution process.

Filling out the application form

You must fill out a form called Tenant’s Application for Dispute Resolution. When you are applying for dispute resolution, you are the "applicant" and your landlord is the "respondent”.

• You must write the address of your place where you had the problem.
• You need the legal name and the address of the owner of the property if you are making a monetary claim. If you don’t know who the owner is, you can go to the BC Assessment Authority or do a title search at the Land Title Office. You can name the manager or property manager if your application is to resolve a dispute not related to money.
• You need to check off the box on the second page of the form that best describes why you are applying for dispute resolution. The dispute resolution officer will only deal with sections of the law that you write down on the form.
• If you paid the $50 filing fee, check off the box that says you want to recover the cost of the filing fee from your landlord.
• Include copies of evidence you will use in the hearing with the application. You can also provide it later, as long as you give copies to the landlord and dispute resolution officer at least five business days before the hearing, not including holidays or weekends.

Serving notice to your landlord

The Residential Tenancy Branch will give you a package of documents once you apply for dispute resolution. The package will include the date of your hearing, important information about serving documents and include extra copies of the documents for the landlord. You must serve the documents to your landlord right away.

There are two ways to serve the documents:

• In person. Bring a witness who has read the documents when you give them to the landlord. You must give the documents to the landlord within three days.
• Send by registered mail. Keep the receipt from the post office to prove you sent the notice. Mail the documents to the landlord as soon as you receive them.

Applying for dispute resolution as a group

If you and your neighbours have the same problem with the same landlord, the law says you can apply for dispute resolution as a group. For example, if several tenants have a problem with the heating in a building you can all apply for a repair and service order together. Tenants who apply for dispute resolution as a group will have to pay the $50 filing fee plus $25 for each tenant who joins the application. Only one hearing will be held. Not everyone in the group will need to attend the hearing. To apply, you and your neighbours need to fill out forms available from the Residential Tenancy Branch. Call the Residential Tenancy Branch or the Tenant Information Line for more information.

How to prepare for a hearing

You can represent yourself at the hearing. You need to present evidence to the dispute resolution officer to tell your side of the story. Your landlord can also present evidence. The dispute resolution officer will make a final decision based on this evidence, so it’s important to prepare your case well and have all your evidence with you. The hearings are only scheduled for one hour from start to finish so it is important that you are organized and that you stay on topic.

Getting help

Government cutbacks to legal aid mean that you can no longer receive legal aid representation for dispute resolution hearings. Many community groups have also had to cut back services. (See the Other Resources sectoin for groups that are still helping tenants at dispute resolution hearings.) You may need to be prepared to represent yourself at a hearing. If you aren’t fluent in English, you can bring someone who is fluent in English to the hearing to interpret for you.

Getting organized

Make a list of the most important points you want to make at the dispute resolution hearing. Organize these points in the order that they happened. Getting evidence If you have witnesses, it is best if they come to the hearing. If they can't come in person, get a sworn statement. This is your witness' description of what happened, sworn before a lawyer or Notary Public. This will cost you money.

If your hearing is held over the telephone, your witnesses can participate. Give the names and phone numbers of your witnesses to the Residential Tenancy Branch before the hearing. Make sure you talk to your witnesses beforethe hearing. They need to know what questions you are going to ask them. And you need to know what answers they are going to give!

You can also bring letters, receipts, photographs, audio and video tapes to the dispute resolution hearing. If you need equipment to play a video or audio tape, you must tell the Residential Tenancy Branch in advance. If you are seeking a monetary order, please use the Residential Tenancy Branch Monetary Order Worksheet. You should provide copies of your papers and photographs to the Residential Tenancy Branch and landlord at least five business days before the hearing. (If the hearing will be held by phone, you must send copies of your evidence to them in advance.) Your landlord must do the same. If your evidence is only made available at the hearing, the landlord can ask for the hearing to be held at a later date. The dispute resolution officer may refuse to consider evidence brought at the last minute.

Practice presenting your case

Once you have gathered the facts and evidence, practice telling your side of the story. Present your case to a friend who can ask questions if some of your points are confusing. You may need to explain something in a different way to make your point clear.

The testing of the claims in a court proceeding at a formal hearing before a judge with the jurisdiction to hear the proceeding. The parties present their evidence and arguments to the judge, who then makes a decision resolving the parties' claims against one another that is final and binding on the parties unless successfully appealed. See "action," "appeal," "argument," "claim," "evidence" and "jurisdiction."

In law, the re-examination of a term of an order or agreement, usually to determine whether the term remains fair and appropriate in light of the circumstances prevailing at the time of the review. In family law, particularly the review of an order or agreement provided for the payment of spousal support. See "de novo," "family law agreements," "order" and "spousal support."

In law, any proceeding before a judicial official to determine questions of law and questions of fact, including the hearing of an application and the hearing of a trial. See "decision."

Facts, or proof tending to support the existence of facts, presented to a judge at a hearing or trial. Evidence can be given through the oral testimony of witnesses, in writing as business records and other documents, or in the form of physical objects. Evidence must be admissible according to the rules of court and the rules of evidence. See "circumstantial evidence," "hearsay" and "testimony."

Processes used to resolve legal disputes, including negotiation, collaborative settlement processes, mediation, arbitration and litigation.

In law, (1) a judge's conclusions after hearing argument and considering the evidence presented at a trial or an application, (2) a judgment, or (3) the judge's reasons. A judge's written or oral decision will include the judge's conclusions about the relief or remedies claimed as well as their findings of fact and conclusions of law. A written decision is called the judge’s "reasons for judgment." See "common law," "conclusions of law" and "findings of fact."

Short for the Child Support Guidelines, a regulation to the federal Divorce Act, adopted by each province and territory except Quebec, that sets the amount of child support a parent or guardian must pay, usually based on the person's income and the number of children involved.

In law, a calculation of the allowable legal expenses of a party to a court proceeding, as determined by the Supreme Court Family Rules. The party who is most successful in a court proceeding is usually awarded their "costs" of the proceeding. See "account," "bill of costs," "Certificate of Costs or Expenses" and "lawyer's fees."

A mandatory direction of the court that is binding and enforceable upon the parties to a court proceeding. An "interim order" is a temporary order made following the hearing of an interim application. A "final order" is a permanent order, made following the trial of the court proceeding or the parties' settlement, following which the only recourse open to a dissatisfied party is to appeal. Failing to abide by the terms of an order may constitute contempt of court. See "appeal," "consent order," "contempt of court," "decision" and "declaration."

(1) In law, a court proceeding; a lawsuit; an action; a cause of action; a claim. (2) A historic decision of the court; case law. See "action," "case law, " "court proceeding," and "precedent."

A request to the court that it make a specific order, usually on an interim or temporary basis, also called a "chambers application" or a "motion." See also "interim application" and "relief."

(1) Information which establishes or tends to establish the truth of a fact, or (2) the conclusion of a logical argument. See "evidence" and "premises."

The person against whom a claim has been brought by Notice of Family Claim. See “application” and “Notice of Family Claim."

A party who brings an application to the court for a specific order or remedy. Usually refers to the party making an interim application, but in the Provincial Court applicant also means the person who starts a court proceeding. See also "court proceeding," "application respondent," and "interim application."

Something which can be owned. See "chattels" and "real property."

(1) The assertion of a legal right to an order or to a thing; (2) the remedy or relief sought by a party to a court proceeding.

In law, a document demonstrating ownership of a thing. See "ownership."

A method of calculating time under which the days for a legal deadline are counted according to the days when the court is open for business, excluding weekends and holidays. See "calendar days" and "clear days."

A person with direct, personal knowledge of facts and events relevant to the issues before the court; a person giving oral evidence in court on oath or affirmation as to the truth of the evidence given. See "affirm," "evidence," "oath" and "opinion evidence."

In contract law, a promise made by someone about a certain state of affairs, like "the plumbing was replaced last year" or "I had a vasectomy two years ago." See "misrepresentation."

A person licensed to practice law in a particular jurisdiction by that jurisdiction's law society. See "barrister and solicitor."

In family law, this usually refers to one party obtaining a part of any property at issue before the property has been finally divided by court order or the parties' agreement, usually in order to help pay for that person's legal fees.