A tenant evicted for refusing to heat

A tenant who wanted to reduce his electricity costs by closing his heating has been shown the door by the Régie du logement. The court terminated his lease, finding that the owner was right to fear for the integrity of his building due to the low temperature.

In his testimony, the landlord explained that the tenant had been cutting off the power supply to the heaters and using only space heaters in the room where he was. The doors of the other rooms were caulked. At the hearing, the co-owner of the building said he had raised the temperature of the apartment three times during the winter, which was below 12 degrees Celsius each time.

"Although the use of space heaters can save the tenant in the costs associated with maintaining a proper temperature in his home, he is required to primarily using the existing system." said administrative judge Marilyne Trudeau in her analysis.

The tenant living above the affected dwelling indicated that it was very cold in his apartment during winter due to the lack of heating on the first floor. He added that on three occasions, the tenant had closed the circuit breaker of his hot water tank for a few days.

For the administrative judge, the motive of lack of heating is enough to terminate the lease, the tenant having failed in his duty to act as a "prudent and diligent person in the use of the rented property". But there’s more!

The evidence presented demonstrated that the tenant manipulated the electrical box and modified the electrical circuit to connect a light. In addition, the report of the electrician who inspected the building reveals voltage variations due to the connection of the backup heater to the building's 120-volt electrical circuit. For all these reasons, the Régie terminated the tenant's lease and ordered his eviction immediately.

CORPIQ indicates in its Building Regulations, available on its website, that a tenant must maintain heating at a minimum of 18 degrees Celcius at all times. In addition, if the heating is under the owner’s responsibility, the tenant is required not to overheat the apartment (maximum 24 degrees Celcius) and maintain its airtightness.