A rental agreement involving a vacation home in BC resulted in a renter taking a landlord to small claims court after the latter kept the rental deposit over concerns like beet juice stains.
One of the renters represented his nine-person group in an attempt to regain a $2,000 damage deposit at a BC Civil Resolution Tribunal hearing.
The respondent, the landlord, claimed over $2,000 in damage was done to the rental during a four-night stay for the nine-person group. Meanwhile, the renter claimed that his group left the vacation rental in impeccable condition and that it was entitled to a deposit refund.
The tribunal member overseeing the case suggested the central issue was whether or not the landlord was entitled to keep some or all of the deposit.
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The rent for the vacation home was $975 per night with a $300 cleaning fee. The $2,000 deposit was to be refunded within 30 days barring “deficiencies, damages, fines or fees to be incurred.”
According to the tribunal’s decision, there were plenty of deficiencies and damages to the property.
One of the first concerns raised in the hearing is that the renting party consumed a bottle of sparkling wine that didn’t belong to them. A label on the bottle read, “pairs well with becoming an Auntie & Uncle.”
This bottle of wine was a gift to the landlord.
During a fire ban, the renting party also had a fire in the landlord’s fire pit.
Lastly and most pressing was the damage and additional cleaning that the landlord claimed was required.
One of the most egregious damages the landlord brought up in the tribunal was the spilling of a bottle of beet juice over the landlord’s cabinets.
“The liquid was dripping to the cabinet below. Beet root juice was also found in a cup resting on a pull-out drawer in the pantry, which the respondentās cleaner opened, causing more liquid to spill.”
The tribunal declared that the landlord was entitled to keep $1,488 for new cabinets and their installation.
Damage to a dining table and bedroom dresser allowed the landlord to keep an additional $100. There was also an additional $60 for damage to a fan, $60 for cleaning costs, and $20 for the sentimental sparkling wine that the landlord was entitled to keep.
Ultimately, the renters only got $341 of their $2,000 deposit back.
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