New Ottawa Landlord and Tenant Board Precedent: Landlords Must Address Source of Pest Problems

According to the Ottawa Citizen News, the Ottawa Landlord and Tenant Board recently ordered a landlord to pay expenses to a former tenant for failing to properly respond to the tenant’s complaints of a bed bug infestation.

While the amount the landlord was required to pay — $2,515 to cover the tenant’s cost of hotel bills and medical treatment — is relatively small, the ruling also set a precedent. 

The adjudicators said in the ruling that it is not good enough for a landlord to continue spraying pesticides as the “cheapest” option to control the pests. Instead, the landlord had an obligation to intensify efforts to determine the source of the problem and to resolve it.

According to the article, tenants living on floors above and below the plaintiff complained of bed bugs, but the landlord never treated any of the neighbouring units.

The former tenant’s lawyer said the ruling will help tenants across Ontario who are dealing with bed bugs and other pests. Landlord and Tenant Board rulings are not legally binding like court decisions, but adjudicators do look to past rulings for guidance.