The appellant tenant appealed a Small Claims Court judgment ordering him to pay the respondent landlord for lost rent after he unilaterally terminated a residential lease.
The tenant claimed the unit was not fit for habitation due to the presence of mold spores detected by an ERMI test, which posed a risk to his daughter who suffered from mold toxicity.
The Divisional Court dismissed the appeal, finding no legal error in the trial judge's contextual application of the 'fit for habitation' test under s. 20(1) of the Residential Tenancies Act.
The court upheld the finding that the tenant breached the lease by terminating it without giving the landlord an opportunity to investigate or remediate the alleged mold issue.
