BARBECUING TENANT SHOULD MEET WITH NEIGHBOUR TO CLEAR AIR

Q: I rent a townhouse in Ottawa. This past weekend I enjoyed the great weather by having a barbecue in my backyard. On Tuesday, when I came home from work, I was greeted with a notice of termination from my landlord. The notice tells me to vacate by June 9. It says I interfered with other tenants by cooking with a barbecue in such a way that the smoke was excessive and blew into the unit next door. The notice gives me seven days to remedy the interference if I don’t want to be evicted. Since I can’t travel back in time, how am I supposed “remedy the interference”? Also, cooking on a barbecue seems like a pretty normal thing to do in Ottawa. I know my barbecue smokes quite a bit, but surely that is just something other people have to put up with.

A: The way you “remedy the interference” is by not continuing to do what the landlord has complained of. From your question, that would be by not “cooking with a barbecue in such a way that the smoke is excessive and blows into the unit next door.” One way you can make sure your barbecue doesn’t interfere again with the tenant next door is not to use the barbecue at all.

However, that may be more than the landlord is demanding, and more than he has the right to demand. A case like yours depends on all the facts. You admit that your barbecue smokes quite a bit. That is a problem you need to address. It probably needs to be cleaned so that it produces less smoke.

There is also the question of where the smoke blows. If the wind took it away from your neighbours, then you would not be interfering with them. You may have to pay attention to the wind direction, and not use the barbecue when the wind is blowing steadily in the wrong direction.

You have not said if there are other issues between you and your neighbours. You may want to have a civilized talk with them and air any burning issues. Maybe they can let you know when they will be away, and you can barbecue without bothering them; maybe they can close the windows on the side of the house your barbecue affects if you barbecue only occasionally and let them know ahead of time.

The law on this subject is that tenants need to put up with some interference from other tenants, but they do not have to put up with “substantial interference with the reasonable enjoyment of their premises for all usual purposes.” Landlords are obliged to investigate complaints and address tenant behaviour that constitutes substantial interference with other tenants.

RENTAL HOUSING CONFERENCE FOR LANDLORDS

The Canadian Federation of Apartment Associations (CFAA) is hosting its 2014 Rental Housing Conference from June 9-11 in Vancouver, BC. The conference will feature over 50 speakers covering 31 topics of interest to residential landlords, property managers and investors with holdings of all sizes. There will also be four keynote speakers, including CIBC chief deputy economist Benjamin Tal and award-winning business motivational speaker Michelle Ray.

The CFAA Rental Housing Conference is the most extensive conference devoted to multi-family rental property in Canada. This year’s conference is the most comprehensive CFAA has put on.

For more information, visit the CFAA website at www.cfaa-fcapi.org. Registration closes on June 3.