Landlord discriminated on marital status by refusing to combine incomes of single roommates for rental application.
The complainant, a single woman, applied with a female roommate to rent an apartment.
The landlord discouraged their application, stating a preference for a middle-aged couple, and subsequently rejected it because their individual incomes did not meet a 25 percent rent-to-income ratio, even though their combined income would have qualified them.
The Board of Inquiry found that the landlord directly discriminated against the complainant on the basis of marital status by refusing to combine their incomes as would be done for a married couple.
While the Board accepted expert evidence that rent-to-income ratios constructively discriminate against unattached women, it found no causal connection to the denial of the apartment in this case, as the complainant would have qualified had the ratio been applied to their combined incomes.
The Board ordered the landlord to cease preferring tenants based on marital status and awarded the complainant $2,500 in general damages.
Vander Schaaf v. M & R Property Management Ltd., 2000 CanLII 20867
