Tuesday, April 06, 2010

A rental board case for the history books

   Montreal piano teacher Heather Baragar had a longstanding legal feud with her landlord Ali Mokhtari which escalated to the point where she attempted to sue him for over $25,000.
   That sum included $4,000 in moral damages and $7,000 for loss of enjoyment of property (intrusion, humiliation etc).
  Baragar had been living upstairs in a duplex with her son and (now ex-)husband Clark Davis since March 2001. They had a good relationship with the landlord downstairs named Zuckerman who went away for the winter.
   Mokhtari bought the property in March 2006 and apparently was not informed about the various snow clearing arrangements and garage rental relationships in place.
   He started renovations which required the couple to stay at a hotel for four days. He was responsible for the bill but balked when she demanded $1,813.00 which included the moving of her piano. Mokhtari offered $80 a night.
   Landlord sent them a cease and desist warning about the noise that their son was making. Tenants replied with a $20,000 suit complaining that the renovations were poorly executed.
   Baragar went away to Manitoba that summer, the glorious summer of oh-six and Mokhtari wrote a letter thanking the tenants for becoming quiet. He was unaware that only the husband was there. He sent them $1,178.00 for the inconveniences they suffered during renovations.
   Mokhtari then sent them a notice of repossession of dwelling. He was ordered to give the tenants $2,000 for their moving costs.
   Baragar complained of mould, broken doorbells and other such stuff.
   Baragar eventually accused him of never having occupied the dwelling which he had repossessed, accusing him of perpetrating a ruse just to get her out.
   Mokhtari put the building for sale in the summer of 2008. There were no takers.
   Clark Davis took the stand but had no profound objection to Mokhtari and said that the whole thing stemmed from a conflict of personalities between his wife and the landlord.
   On 18 March 2010 the epic battled ended when Rental Board Regisseur Marie-Louisa Santirosi ruled that Mokhtari had to pay the tenant the sum of $250 per month for the period of renovations (presumably a few months in 2006) plus another $202. Case closed!

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