Dania Majid

The tenant appealed a Landlord and Tenant Board order evicting her for repeatedly denying the landlord access to her rental unit to take photographs for the purpose of selling the property.

The Divisional Court held that the Board erred in law by finding that section 27(1)(5) of the Residential Tenancies Act permitted entry for this purpose.

The Court concluded that absent a specific term in the lease or the tenant's consent, a landlord has no statutory authority to enter a rental unit to take photographs for marketing purposes, as doing so infringes on the tenant's privacy interests.

The eviction order was set aside.

The tenant appealed a decision of the Landlord and Tenant Board which found that he had abandoned his rental unit.

The Board had concluded that rent was in arrears because the September 2010 rent cheque was paid by a third party rather than the tenant.

The Divisional Court allowed the appeal, holding that the Residential Tenancies Act permits rent to be paid on behalf of a tenant by a third party.

Since the rent was paid, the statutory precondition for abandonment was not met, and the matter was remitted to the Board to determine a remedy.