Editor’s note: This story contains language that some people may find offensive.
A B.C. landlord is speaking out, saying he is facing ongoing racist harassment from his tenant, but B.C.’s current rental laws prevent him from being evicted.
Aman Sahota told Daily Hive that he had been subjected to an onslaught of racial abuse from his tenants for months, including being called a “dirty turban twister” and an “ugly curry stain” in emails. Ta. The email also includes the comment, “Pray for the rats and drink milk with them.”
Sahota says she has been insulted ever since she faced an ordinance from the Rental Housing Branch (RTB) to resolve a dispute between Burnaby Housing tenant Tracy McConville and her upstairs neighbor. and their families are said to be targeted.
“We received an ordinance from the City of Burnaby to bring this location into compliance,” she said.
Security camera footage from the home shows McConville swearing into the door camera and using a series of racial slurs at the occupants upstairs, including “rice balls” and the N-word. Ms. McConville claims these comments were made against her neighbor upstairs after she claims they made unpleasant comments to her.
Daily Hive includes the video provided by Sahota, which is blurred for privacy reasons and partially censored for offensive language.
During multiple attempts to resolve the fight between McConville and his upstairs neighbor, Sahota and his family began receiving aggressive messages.
“I probably received 3 to 400 emails and phone calls due to her constant harassment,” Sahota said. She shared an email with Daily Hive, which has been edited because it contains offensive language and is of an offensive and racist nature.
RTB decision
Ms. Sahota decided to speak to Daily Hive about the situation after her attempts to use the Residential Tenants Branch to evict McConville proved futile.
Residential Tenant Board Decision between Amrik Sahota (Aman’s father) and Tracy McConville.
“We took her to RTB, and RTB said she could continue living there because it’s not an eviction notice, it’s just an ordinance,” Sahota said. . “We’ve lived through it, but that doesn’t mean the harassment has stopped.”
“They didn’t feel that way. [the emails and videos] “It met the criteria for harassment or interference with the quiet enjoyment of the landlord,” she said of the September 2023 decision.
In it, Ms. McConville admitted to posting defamatory claims about her landlord online and submitted audio recordings she claimed were evidence her landlord had called her derogatory terms, but the audio was unclear and inaudible. It has been found.
The RTB’s ruling said that despite Sahota’s videos and messages, “the landlord did not have any persuasive evidence to support her claim that the tenant had materially interfered with or caused an unreasonable nuisance to other residents or to the landlord.” He did not provide any convincing evidence.”
Not only did Sahota lose, arbitrator Edwina Nazareth found that McConville was entitled to a one-time deduction of $100 from future rent.
“I have considered the proposals of both parties and am of the opinion that the past six to nine months have been extremely stressful for both parties for a variety of reasons. “It is my judgment that we are in a situation where each of us has a certain contribution to make in that development,” Nazareth said in his decision, noting that tensions between the McConn building and the tenants above are That probably didn’t help McConville’s relationship with her landlord, he added.
fill out a police report
When her attempts at RTB were unsuccessful, Sahota called the police in January this year. Again, she didn’t get far.
Excerpts from the harassment report filed by Aman Sahota with the police.
“There’s nothing we can do because there’s no physical harm to property or people. So it’s just that she’s using this kind of language and there’s no repercussions from it at all,” Sahota said.
When Daily Hive contacted Burnaby RCMP about the situation, they responded, “Officers continue to work to ensure the safety of everyone involved.”
It added that it has consulted with B.C.’s Hate Crimes Unit regarding the controversy and clarified exactly what a hate crime is.
“A hate-motivated crime is any criminal offense that is motivated by the suspect’s hatred, bigotry or prejudice against an identifiable group,” Burnaby RCMP said.
They further distinguished between hate-motivated incidents and hate-motivated crimes.
“Hate-motivated incidents may be motivated by the same factors as hate-motivated crimes, but they do not meet the elements of a criminal offense,” they wrote.
Sahota said it all left her feeling hopeless.
Tenant side story
When contacted by Daily Hive, McConville shared a different story.
She admitted that she had “some issues” with the previous tenant and that she “had her name called out multiple times.” In her emails, she claimed that her former tenant made lewd comments to her, including “Please suck her son’s dick” and “What does her son’s dick look like?”
After a previous tenant called her a “racial slur,” McConville wrote that the comment was only made to the previous tenants. She disputed her landlord’s claims and instead claimed that her landlord insulted her by calling her “white scum and white trash.”
She also claimed they made death threats against her. However, despite Daily Hive’s attempts to obtain her evidence, McConville was unable to provide any videos, recordings, texts, or emails to support these claims.
In one video provided by McConville, the landlord can be heard saying “fuck you” as the tenant asks where his mail is. Ms. McConville claimed that Ms. Sahota stole her mail, but also provided no evidence for this claim.
“The police came and warned me not to steal my mail or I would be prosecuted,” McConville said.
Ms McConville claimed Sahota’s landlords were trying to evict her so they could sell the property and had arranged “living conditions” for her. [horrible]” for her. She shared that her suite contained asbestos and claimed the apartment had a series of problems that the landlord had not fixed, including flooding from a broken underground water pump. did.
Copy of asbestos report submitted by Tracy McConville.
In an email to Daily Hive, she said she was unable to move due to her poor health and several pets, and said the situation was causing her a lot of stress.
“My landlord and all of his adult children have been harassing me terribly and they won’t stop,” McConville wrote.
“I’m going to see a therapist because of this stress. They won’t stop and I feel like I’m at real risk of relapse from all of this continued stress,” she continued.
She says she won’t be bullied.
“I am going to apply for another hearing,” she told Daily Hive.
next chapter
Tensions between the McConville building and its neighbors persisted, and Sahota said her upstairs neighbor “didn’t want to get involved.” [the situation] I already picked it up and left. ”
Sahota has to move into a suite above the McConn building due to the sudden eviction of the occupants upstairs and a change in her personal situation. She said: “She’s really scared.”
“After all, I don’t know what she’s capable of, but if her actions are any indication, it shouldn’t be that far off from what I think.”
Sahota, who is not part of the Sahota family, which owns multiple buildings on the Downtown Eastside, said she wonders what would happen if someone were charged in a situation like this, since there is no system in place to protect landlords and tenants. He says he had doubts. like this.
“It’s easy for landlords to be demonized. I get it. There’s a housing crisis and there are a lot of really, really poor landlords. But not everyone is out to make someone’s life miserable.” said Sahota.
“We also should not be subjected to hate speech, racial slurs and discrimination.”
She said more laws need to be enacted to protect landlords when they encounter situations involving problem tenants that could jeopardize the safety of the landlord or other tenants. He emphasized.
Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon issued a statement regarding the situation and condemned the comments faced by Sahota.
“It is heartbreaking to learn of the difficulties this person is having as a landowner. Plain and simple, racism is unacceptable and has no place in British Columbia,” the statement read. ing.
“We will not stop until there is no place for racism to hide in B.C. We have announced new support for people who follow the rules by setting clear guidelines for terminating contracts.”
At the beginning of April, B.C. government announces further protections It is introduced for renters and for landlords.
Amendments are being made to the Residential Tenancies Act, which will include a “web portal for generating tenant eviction notices for personal use.” For renters, this should deter unfair evictions from landlords. For landlords, this is supposed to provide a standardized process for serving notices.
