Closing in on three years after being illegally evicted, Metro Vancouver-based tech entrepreneur Kahlil Ashanti suggests he could have a new career in debt collections following a protracted process to obtain a monetary order for over $24,000 from his former landlord.
That’s because after illegally being served an eviction notice on Nov. 28, 2020, Ashanti finally received his cheque from the landlord on July 21, following many trips to court culminating in a judicial review wherein he says the judge rendered a quick decision to validate the order.
“I feel discouraged because I’ve spent over two years and we had to relive this experience; but it feels great to get the money,” said Ashanti, who is now calling on the provincial government to better streamline payments of monetary orders via the Residential Tenancy Branch (RTB) — a matter the government claims is in the works.
Penalties in place to dissuade illegal evictions
Ashanti is among an unclear but seemingly growing number of British Columbians who have received an RTB monetary order for compensation from their landlord for having their lease illegally terminated.
Under law, a landlord may give a tenant a two-month notice to vacate in order for the landlord to use the property for their own use, which may typically involve a family member moving in.
Such circumstances also typically occur when a rental home is sold to a buyer intending to occupy it as a primary residence. However, should the landlord/buyer not be able to prove such stated uses, an RTB adjudicator may find the tenant is entitled to the equivalent of 12 months’ worth of rent payments — a penalty to dissuade illegal evictions and compensate tenants who likely face higher rents by having to re-enter the rental market.
Collection process involved many hearings and trips to court
On Aug. 5, 2021, Ashanti filed a claim against his former landlord with the RTB, after learning the landlord did not use his unit for their stated use. The RTB rendered a decision in Ashanti’s favour on March 8, 2022.
After the landlord refused to pay Ashanti, the Tenant Resource and Advisory Centre provided some pro-bono assistance to guide Ashanti, who nevertheless found himself making numerous trips to court.
Between May and October of 2022, Ashanti applied for seizure and sale of goods by a bailiff, garnishment of wages by a court order and a certificate of judgment (lien) on the landlord’s property.
“Each method requires a trip to the New West small claims court and a significant amount of time, paperwork, guidance and mental exhaustion. As each method fails, the next one is deployed,” explained Ashanti.
By the time he got to the property lien, the landlord’s lawyer filed for a judicial review, said Ashanti.
But last October the landlord didn’t show up for his own judicial review, leading Ashanti to believe it was a stall tactic.
And so, Ashanti then filed for a payment hearing, which he understood to be the final means of collection wherein the landlord would be ordered by a court to divulge all of his assets or be found in contempt.
“Winning a payment hearing can require more than one appearance to get the landlord to pay,” explained Ashanti.
In this case, the landlord, wanting to avoid a payment hearing, offered to put $25,500 in trust and proceed to a new judicial review of the RTB decision; Ashanti agreed and won.
“How many people don’t have the time, perseverance or aptitude I have? Most people don’t want to go through this... they just want to have a beer.
“So, this is bittersweet for sure,” said Ashanti of his debt collection saga, which he says took an emotional toll on his family as well.
"Although I was the one who physically pursued everything, my kids and wife loved that house and had to constantly relive that situation every time the landlord ignored or stalled the process," he told Glacier Media.
Ashanti says the government should set up an online rental registry where lease agreements can be uploaded and eviction applications can be filed, in order to mitigate disputes before they snowball into something larger.
He also wants an easier process to get money after an RTB decision.
“It has the same teeth as paying your taxes. A cheque is cut when the RTB decision is made,” he said.
B.C. government proposes changes
As Ashanti’s case weaved through the court system, the B.C. Attorney General had been drafting legislation to create a proposed money judgment enforcement act.
Under existing laws, garnishing wages requires applications to the court every two weeks but the new law will negate re-applying.
The proposed legislation enables money judgments to be enforced with a single enforcement instruction, after a person registers their order (from RTB or the Civil Resolution Tribunal, for instance) in a new searchable public registry, to be launched in 2025, the government announced on May 1.
And, the proposal also expands the types of assets that can be collected on an order.
Daniel Barber, a lawyer for Singleton Reynolds, said the biggest change will be what’s called “universal exigibility,” meaning “by default, every type of property in which a debtor has an interest may be subject to an enforcement charge, unless the act provides otherwise.”
Barber said the act should lessen the burden on creditors but still expects they will still need to stickhandle the court system in certain cases.
“It’s still going to be complicated, but hopefully more streamlined than what it currently is, because the current system is cumbersome to navigate,” Barber told Glacier Media.
According to the B.C. Ministry of Housing, the RTB awarded approximately 4,800 money judgments to landlords and renters in 2022, compared to approximately 4,100 in 2021.
“By simplifying the collection process, people can have confidence they will be able to more quickly get what is owed to them so both parties can move on with their lives,” said Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon in a statement on May 1.
Ashanti said he also acknowledges the process works both ways and landlords should also benefit from a more streamlined collection process. However, he noted with a less than one per cent vacancy rate “the power is in the hands of the landlords,” in B.C.
“And the people making the decisions are homeowners,” said Ashanti, questioning the rigour of the government proposal.
Despite 93 per cent of MLAs owning a home and many of them owning second and third properties, the BC NDP government has defended its measures to protect renters in its six-year tenure, noting it has capped rent increases below inflation rates, banned renovictions, launched Canada’s first rent bank, closed fixed-term lease loopholes and ended all strata rental restriction bylaws.
Last December, the ministry also announced a 40 per cent increase to the RTB operating budget and staffing, to improve dispute application delays.
Editor's note: This story has been updated to include additional comment from Kahlil Ashanti.
