The Landlady Strikes Back (Thursday 30 January 2003)

On Thursday afternoon Andy and Jon were sitting at home, planning a trip to the gym, when the phone rang. It was the Riders' landlady, Dawn, ringing to discuss the Riders' tenancy.

Andy had delivered a letter on Wednesday night requesting firewood, as the original contract had specified that Dawn would provide wood and the Riders have been without since the beginning of the year.

In response to the letter requesting firewood, Dawn sent a letter saying that she believed that the terms of the tenancy had been broken, and so she was not going to provide any firewood. In the letter, she asked that the Riders to drop in to discuss the situation in the evening.

During the afternoon Dawn must have changed her mind because, at around 18:00, she called up and spoke to Andy. She declined the offer of a face to face meeting, stating that she was considering evicting the Riders and suggesting that it was now up to them to propose a compromise. The nature of the compromise she is hoping for is unclear, as she is insisting that that the Riders agree to a blanket ban on overnight guests (which, under BC tenancy law, is illegal). When Andy refused to accept the ban, Dawn informed him that she was evicting him and the other two Riders.

The Riders are currently composing a letter clarifying their position, but as far as Dawn is concerned they have been served notice of eviction. What Dawn doesn't seem to realise is that an eviction in BC is only enforceable if issued on a standard form, and as yet there is no sign of this. The other problem Dawn faces is that the Riders have not broken any terms of the tenancy agreement, so plan to take the eviction to arbitration.