Renter who listed spare room on Airbnb ordered to repay roommate's damage deposit

KaleyAntayahas been a renter in B.C. for 14years, but she says she has never faced as many problems as when she started dealing with the tight rental market in Vancouver.

Last year, Antaya'sliving situation went sideways after her roommate, Amy Wutzke, listed a third bedroomfor short-term rentals on Airbnb.

"It was a nightmare," Antaya said over the phone. "I felt completely unsafe."

Antaya, 33,left without giving30 days' notice, as per her agreement with Wutzke. But when Antayamoved out, her roommaterefused to refund her $400 damage deposit.

The B.C. Civil Resolution Tribunalrecently ordered Wutzke to repay it,plus interest and the $125 filing fee.

Antaya says she learnedthat in B.C., roommates not listed on a lease are considered occupants and have no rights under the Residential Tenancy Act, which sets baseline rules for agreements between tenants and landlords in the province.

Robert Patterson, a staff member at the B.C. Tenant Resource and Advisory Centre (TRAC), says many people, trying to save money by living with roommates aren't aware of this.

For that reason, Patterson said it's important for people to put anagreement in writing.

Antaya says that could be useful, but she would prefer if the Residential Tenancy Act were updated to better reflect the current housing market.

"At least have some policies in place where occupants can go through the same motions as tenants," she said.

Wutzke, a social work studentwho now lives in Prince George, refused to comment on the decisionbut said she was "furious" about it.

No red flags at first

Antaya moved into thethree-bedroom apartment near Main Street and 41st Avenue with Wutzke and another roommate in April 2019.

She has a fulltimegovernment job as an administrative assistant, butsays living with roommates is all she can afford in Vancouver.

Antaya says she had found the apartment on Craigslist.Wutzkeand the other roommate seemed nice. There were no red flags.

According to the tribunal decision, another person soon replaced the third roommatebut leftshortly afterwards.Wutzketold the tribunal she decided to make up for theshortfall in rent by listing that room for short-term rentals on Airbnb.

As the only person on the lease, Wutzke would have been the sole person legally responsible for paying rent. Lease holders have legal rights under theResidential Tenancy Act, but they also have responsibilities that roommates, or occupants, typically don't.

Antayaand Wutzkeclashed about whether Antayahad agreed to the Airbnb scenario, and whether she had cleaned her room upon moving out.

The tribunal decided that the Airbnb guests violated the agreement between the two roommates, and Antaya's photo and video evidence proved she hadcleaned the room.

'Be imaginative'

Patterson, of TRAC, saidAntaya's case points to the complications that can arise between roommates.

Antaya was lucky to be able to take her complaint to the Civil Resolution Tribunal, which resolves small claims less than $5,000. But he says non-monetary issues like evictions have to go to B.C. Supreme Court, which can be lengthy and expensive.

Roommates were covered under the Residential Tenancy Act until about five years ago, Patterson says, but that also posed challenges because it wasn't clear if one roommate could make changes to the leaseor if everyone had to be in agreement.

Having all roommates listed on a lease also poses challenges, Patterson says. Anew tenancy agreement has to be rewritten every time someone moves out, he says,which opens the door to rent increases above the allowable 2.5 per cent.

In the absence of any rights, Patterson advises taking the time to come up with a detailed agreement between roommates.

"At the beginning of any kind of living scenario everyone is assuming that things are going to go well," he said. "Be imaginative in terms of what issues you think could come up."