Can a Landlord Switch Machines From Free Laundry to Coin Laundry?
When a Landlord Provides the Use of Various Amenities to a Tenant, Being Parking, Storage, Laundry, Among Other Things, the Landlord Must Continue to Provide Such Amenities, Even If Such Amenities Are Absent From the Lease Terms.
Similar Questions About Withdrawal of Amenities Include:
- Can a Landlord Reduce Free Parking From Two Down to One?
- If Patio Furniture Was Always There Can a Landlord Take It Away?
- Can a Landlord Close Up a Decorative Fireplace?
- Is a Landlord Allowed to Start Charging For Using a Storage Shed?
- What Happens If a Landlord Wants to Start Charging For An Air-Conditioner Fee?
Note: Please contact Askew Paralegal Services by phone at: (289) 439-4740 to discuss any specific questions that you may have.
Determining If Withdrawal of An Amenity or Service is Unlawful
A service historically provided to a tenant is a legacy service or amenity. Examples include parking, storage shed, fenced yard, laundry facilities, trash dumpster, various utilities, and many others. Often whether such service or amenity is included within the tenancy arrangement is absent, meaning silent, within the lease agreement, if any. In the absence of lease terms, or even when such was provided despite a contrary lease term, whether the service or amenity must remain available may be determined by review of conduct.
The Law
As per the case of P.T. v. V.R., et al, CET-74735-18 (Re), 2018 CanLII 88578 (ON LTB) it was said by the Landlord Tenant Board that:
11. The issue for me to consider here is whether the Landlords have substantially interfered with the reasonable enjoyment of the rental unit or residential complex by the Tenant or by a member of the Tenant's household by the male Landlord demanding the Tenant and her guests obtain his permission for them to park in the two unassigned spaces she has had the use of for about 4 years before September 2016 and arranging to have the Tenant’s daughter’s car and the Tenant’s guest’s car ticketed.
12. The lot survey submitted by the Landlord indicates that there is plenty of space to park along the eastern side of the Landlords’ house without encroaching on the right-of-way that is a dead end.
13. Indeed, the photograph of a car parked beside the Landlords’ house shows it is not on the right-of-way and yet that was where the Tenant’s daughter apparently was parked when she was boxed in for 3 hours by the male Landlord in late January 2018. The male Landlord called the City parking enforcement division to have the Tenant’s daughter’s car ticketed but because she was present the enforcement officer refused to do so.
14. The lease is silent on the issue of parking by the Tenant’s guests or occupants. However, examination of the parties’ conduct suggests that there was a long-standing and until fairly recently uncontested practice of the Tenant’s guests parking on the property.
15. In Feather v. Bradford (Town), the Ontario Court of Appeal succinctly set out the general principles of estoppel by conduct as follows:
[56] The general principle of estoppel by representation is aptly stated in Jill E. Martin, Hanbury and Martin: Modern Equity 16th ed. (London: Sweet & Maxwell, 2001), at p. 891:
[A] person who makes an unambiguous representation, by words, or by conduct, or by silence, of an existing fact, and causes another party to act to his determent in reliance on the representation will not be permitted subsequently to act inconsistently with that representation. [Emphasis added.]
16. Through their conduct the Landlords permitted the Tenant the right to unassigned parking spaces for her car and that of her guests. Having relied upon that representation, the male Landlord is estopped from claiming authority to revoke this right four years later.
17. Consequently, I also find for at least the past year the Landlords have substantially interfered with the reasonable enjoyment of the rental unit for all usual purposes by the Tenant and the Tenant’s son while he was an occupant of the rental unit by demanding adherence to arbitrary rules with respect to parking for the Tenant and her guests, including her family members, contrary to a long established practice whereby the Tenant’ has two parking spots to use for herself and her guests and guests were able to park behind her car.
As above, further to determining that the 'estoppel by conduct' principle was applicable and therefore the landlord improperly withdrew an amenity or service, the Landlord Tenant Board also found that the landlord engaged improperly by interfering in the right of the tenant to enjoy the rental unit in a state of peace. This interference arose due to the authoritarian manner in which the landlord demanded that the tenant comply with the landlord.
As such, a landlord, and presumably a tenant if the circumstances involved another issue, behaviour may be the determining factor of what amenities or services are included within the tenancy arrangement; and, once established as a included amenities or services, the withdrawal of those amenities or services is improper.
Summary Comment
What Is the Short Answer?
A legacy amenity or service is an amenity or service that was provided or available throughout the tenancy relationship. While the lease may be silent as to whether such is an included amenity or service, the principle of 'estoppel by conduct' indicates that a party to an agreement is unable to act in a certain way for an extended period of time and then choose to act in a contrary way. Accordingly, a landlord is unable to provide an amenity or service and then unilaterally choose at a later date to withdraw that amenity or service.
NOTE: A considerable amount of online searches featuring “lawyers near me” or “best lawyer in” typically indicates a desire for prompt and proficient legal counsel instead of a specific designation. In Ontario, licensed paralegals are governed by the same Law Society that regulates lawyers and are permitted to represent clients in specific litigation cases. Advocacy, legal reasoning, and procedural expertise are fundamental to that function. Askew Paralegal Services provides legal representation within its licensed parameters, focusing on strategic positioning, evidence preparation, and compelling advocacy aimed at attaining effective and beneficial outcomes for clients.
