B.C. Supreme Court reinstates tenant after Port Moody co-op attempts eviction

A B.C. Supreme Court justice recently overturned a non-profit housing co-op’s efforts to evict a longtime tenant – in part because of a failure to knock on her door.

Hayley Myers had lived at the Noons Creek Housing Co-op for about 14 years when she fell behind on her rent, with the total arrears reaching $1,212 in March 2023.

Myers, who struggles with cognitive issues, acknowledged she was behind on her rent but agreed to pay all charges by June 30.

Following other issues, including delays in returning Home Owner Grant application, the board of directors scheduled a meeting to decide the future of Myers’ membership in the Noons Creek co-op.

Noting her plans to be out of town, Myers asked the co-op’s board to schedule the meeting after May 23, 2023.

The board scheduled a meeting for May 24, warning Myers: “If you choose not to attend, the meeting will proceed without you.”

The board met on May 24. After waiting 15 minutes for Myers to show up, the board voted unanimously to terminate her membership.

The Community Legal Assistance Society subsequently sent the board a letter on behalf of Myers, explaining that the mother of two: “suffers from a brain injury that significantly affects her memory and ability to navigate legal processes. Consequently, she was unable to attend the May 24, 2023 board meeting and has missed the seven day deadline to appeal that decision.”

Myers was hurt in a 2012 car crash and suffered two brain aneurysms, she told the court.

Over the next year, the co-op calculated that Myers’ debt ballooned to $11,700. The co-op was in court recently seeking an order for immediate possession of her home as well as unpaid housing charges and damages.

However, the case hinged on the May 24 meeting and whether Myers had a fair chance at an impartial hearing in accordance with the principles of natural justice.

The co-op’s volunteer board didn’t see Myers before they voted, noted Justice Trevor Armstrong.

“For some reason, no one at the meeting took steps to knock on the respondent’s door to see if she was inside and able to make it to the meeting,” Armstrong wrote, noting the meeting was held “immediately across the hall” from Myers’ home.

The board knew Myers wanted to make submissions at the meeting, Armstrong noted.

“The co-op was under an obligation to make every reasonable effort to allow the respondent to be heard before a decision was rendered,” Armstrong wrote, adding the co-op was standing on: “formality and rigidity.”

Natural justice: “compelled the directors to at least knock on the plaintiff’s door before terminating her membership after her years of residency,” Armstrong concluded.

Myers didn’t know if she was in her home at the time of the meeting or if her a delay to her return flight from Mexico caused her to arrive after the meeting ended.

Armstrong ultimately concluded it was “more likely than not” that Myers wasn’t aware of the meeting, and that she would have attended if she was aware.

The justice previously noted that Myers’ ability to recall events and to organize herself were compromised by her head injury.

Myers’ membership in the co-op was reinstated, Armstrong ruled, adding that she wouldn’t be required to give up her home.

Outstanding issues related to overdue housing charges were not resolved.

“It seems to me better evidence would be necessary to establish the actual amounts,” Armstrong wrote.

The co-op offers low-cost housing and receives subsidies from B.C.’s Housing Management Commission.