Mice & Rodent Abatements (LTB)

Caselaw.Ninja, Riverview Group Publishing 2021 ©
Date Retrieved:	2024-11-23
CLNP Page ID:	1839
Page Categories:	[Maintenance Abatements (LTB)]
Citation:	Mice & Rodent Abatements (LTB), CLNP 1839, <5S>, retrieved on 2024-11-23
Editor:	Sharvey
Last Updated:	2022/01/03

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TST-61589-15 (Re), 2016 CanLII 39765 (ON LTB)

19. While there does not appear to be a dispute that there was a rodent infestation in the unit, the evidence was unclear about whether the infestation involved rats or mice. In any event, “rat” and “mouse” are not scientific classifications; but, generally speaking, rats are larger than mice. For the purpose of the issue(s) before me, and as the type of rodent will not affect my analysis, I will refer to the rodents as mice.

20. Both Tenants testified that they first observed mice in the unit on February 28, 2015. The issue was immediately reported to the superintendent who attended at the unit on the same day. The superintendent returned again the following day and filled in some holes in the unit. The pest control company attended at the unit on March 3 and 5, 2015 and placed some poison and glue traps in the unit. Tenant GS testified that, on March 5, 2015, the pest control technician who attended at the unit removed an unopened peanut butter jar from the Tenants’ cupboard without authorization, opened it, and used some of the peanut butter to bait the mice traps that he had placed in the unit.

21. Both Tenants testified that the mice infestation was not resolved and continued up to the date they vacated the unit on July 31, 2015. The Tenants produced photographs showing, what appears to be, a mouse in a common hallway of the complex and large mousetraps and a mouse on the exterior grounds of the complex. The Tenants also produced three photographs of mice droppings in the unit.

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36. Given the evidence before me, including the photographs of vermin droppings in the unit and live mice in and outside the complex, I am satisfied that the Landlord is in breach of s. 20(1) of the Act because the unit has not been vermin free during the entirety of the tenancy. As stated, RP testified that, given the age of the complex, the mice problem cannot be avoided. RP further testified that the large mice traps on the exterior of the complex had been in place for about five years. As such, it cannot be said that the Landlord was unaware of the complex’s mice problem.

37. In Offredi v. 751768 Ontario Ltd 1994 CanLII 11006 (ON SCDC), [1994] O.J. No. 1204, the Divisional Court stated: “The question of fault on the landlord’s part is not the issue... What the tenants claim is a breach of contract. The tenants were paying full rent for premises which the landlord was under an obligation… to keep in a good state of repair and fit for habitation. The landlord failed to do that. That is the basis for the claim for an abatement …”

38. In this case, the Tenants did not get what they paid for. They paid rent for a unit that, as a result of a mice infestation, was rendered unfit for habitation from February 28, 2015 to July 31, 2015. The Landlord was in breach of subsection 20(1) of the Act and, by virtue of that breach, the Landlord also substantially interfered with the reasonable enjoyment of the rental unit for all usual purposes by the Tenants or members of their household. Accordingly, the Tenants are entitled to a rent abatement.

39. In light of the Tenants’ and Landlord’s evidence, I find, on a balance of probabilities, that the residential complex and the unit were moderately infested with mice. Based on my knowledge of similar cases, the duration of the problem, the impact on the Tenants on a daily basis, I am satisfied that the Tenants are entitled to an abatement of 10% of the rent for the period from February 28, 2015 to July 31, 2015 (154 days), which totals $875.90. I considered awarding a higher abatement amount, however, I did not do so in light of the absence of written complaints by the Tenants and their insistence, contrary to the Act, that they be present during treatments after March 5, 2015.