Court dismisses landlord claim tenant owed three months’ rent

WATERLOO — A landlord who ordered a tenant to move out sought the equivalent of three months of rent after he left.

Stamm Investments Ltd. and Robert Hobbs entered into a one-year lease agreement for a Waterloo apartment starting June 1, 2014. Seven months later, after getting noise complaints from neighbours, Stamm sent Hobbs a notice of early termination of the lease.

The notice said he must move out on or before Jan. 31, 2015.

Hobbs had the option of staying if he stopped the noise within seven days of getting the notice. Instead, he moved out and returned the keys on Jan. 31. The notice said if he moved out by that date, the tenancy would be over.

The landlord sued Hobbs in small-claims court, seeking the equivalent of three months of rent after he vacated: one month based on a reversal of a free-rent coupon, one month of hydro and one month for the costs of cleaning, repairing and advertising the unit.

Small-claims court Deputy Judge Sebastian Winny ruled the one month of free rent was covered by the last month’s rent Hobbs had paid and dismissed the rest of the claim.

Stamm appealed, alleging Winny made an error by concluding the landlord had not established liability. Earlier this month in Divisional Court, Justice Catrina Braid found Winny committed no error.

Stamm also alleged Winny failed to consider the common law rules of contract. The landlord argued that the tenant’s conduct and early termination of the fixed-term lease were material breaches of the lease agreement.

Stamm believed it had the right to claim damages for the balance of the lease. Braid disagreed. “As a matter of principle, it is illogical to suggest that, despite termination of the tenancy, the tenant may continue to be liable for rent after the date of termination,” she wrote in her ruling.

“The obligation to pay rent does not continue beyond the termination date. This would be inconsistent with the plain language of the notice.”