Real estate company taken to BC court for unpaid invoices

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The BC real estate scene has seen its fair share of rental disputes. A recent decision from the BC Civil Resolution Tribunal (CRT) is continuing the trend with a dispute between a real estate company and the property management company it employed.

Wavelength Properties Inc. hired Hostgenius Management Inc. to manage one of its short-term rental properties. But, according to the court, things turned sour when Wavelength failed to pay Hostgenius its invoices.

The management company filed for $5,000 in unpaid services and cleaning fees. Wavelength hit back with a series of arguments to try and claim that Hostgenius “did not fulfill its contractual obligations.”

Firstly, Wavelength argued to the court that Hostgenius failed to integrate its platform with its short-term rental website, which it claims would have ensured a “seamless booking process.”

Emails provided to the court as evidence show that updates to Hostgenius’ booking calendars were done manually, with Wavelength sending the management company booking information from their website. However, the court found that their written agreement did not specify that Hostgenius was required to integrate its platform with the rental website and did not breach their contract.

Wavelength then tried to argue that Hostgenius did not provide satisfactory guest support and even provided evidence of a guest contacting an employee about issues with appliances in the property.

The court found that text messages proved Hostgenius had responded to that matter before Wavelength had. Still, it did note that Hostgenius had, in fact, provided check-in information to guests at the “last minute.” Ultimately, the court found that neither incident met the criteria to be considered a breach of contract.

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The third argument Wavelength tried was that Hostgenius priced the rental property under market value.

According to the decision, their agreement specified that Hostgenius would do its best to reflect the pricing based on seasonal adjustments, last-minute bookings, and holidays but that “results are not guaranteed.” Wavelength failed to prove that the property was rented at a below-market value rate, and this claim was also dismissed.

Finally, the real estate company tried to claim that Hostgenius did not upkeep appropriate housekeeping and security standards. Wavelength told the court that the cleaners had left wet towels and linens on one occasion and the door unlocked on another.

Hostgenius responded to the claim by saying that the door was secured by an August lock that the real estate company had remote control over. Considering Hostgenius’ claim and Wavelength’s lack of evidence, the court once again found that the contract had not been breached.

After considering Wavelength’s multiple arguments, the court ultimately decided that the company had to pay the unpaid fees.

According to the decision, however, the screenshots of the invoices provided did not sum to $5,000. The total amount owed by the real estate company was instead calculated as $3,368.86 for the monthly management fee, the commissions and cleaning fees, and maintenance on a bedframe.