Some like it lukewarm: Renter sues roommate for keeping apartment too cold

An apartment kept too cold and many disagreements between a roommate and her renter found their way to a tribunal hearing.

It’s a tale as old as time: a relationship between roommates that has deteriorated due to unavoidable circumstances. In this case, one roommate sued the other for various reasons, followed by the other countersuing.

Evgeniya Khaliulina, who was subletting the rental, sued Paul Jugpal for unpaid rent and other expenses in a small claims case at the BC Civil Resolution Tribunal.

Jugpal countersued for returning his deposit and other reasons like Khaliulina keeping the apartment way too cold.

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Khaliulina was looking for $2,600 in unpaid rent, $1,050 in cleaning, $200 for littering and endangering others, $550 for interference with quiet enjoyment, and $600 for trespass and theft, and violating her privacy, for a total of $5,000.

In Jugpal’s counterclaim, he claimed $625 for the return of his deposit, $615.67 for utilities that weren’t provided, which related to the temperatures in the apartment being too cold, $859 for interference with the use of shared spaces, and $900 for a violation of privacy, for a total of $2,999.67.

At some point during the roommateship, some texts highlighted conflict on several issues, and later, a third-party company that owned the apartment advised Jugpal that he would have to move out.

Regarding Jugpal’s counterclaim, he claimed that the apartment was kept at unreasonably low temperatures, which Khaliulina agreed with. She acknowledged that the living space would not heat above 16 degrees, which the tribunal found was “well below room temperature.”

“By advertising utilities as included, I find Ms. Khaliulina implicitly agreed that she would pay the cost of utilities necessary to keep the temperature of the apartment at a reasonable level. I find she did not do so,” the tribunal added.

Unfortunately for Jugpal, he couldn’t provide any evidence of the monetary loss he incurred due to temperatures being too cold, like having to buy a heater. The one thing the tribunal did agree with was that Jugpal was entitled to his refund.

Near the end of his tenancy, Jugpal failed to pay rent for a few months, meaning that ultimately at the end of the case, he owed Khaliulina a decent chunk of change.

The tribunal member overseeing the case ordered Jugpal to pay Khaliulina $2,037.27.

“After making complaints about the living situation, including the temperature of the apartment, the third-party company that owned the apartment eventually stated to me in an email that Khaliulina was not authorized to rent out the room or have sub-tenants. She was supposed to inform me. She did not inform me,” Jugpal told Daily Hive in an email.

He also said the tribunal case didn’t adequately highlight how low the temperatures got.

“On average, in the winter days, it would get to 11-14 degrees Celsius; those are the ‘too cold’ temperatures I was dealing with,” he said.

He also provided a photo of the thermostat displaying very low temperatures.

“Buying a heater would not fix the problem.”