Residential Tenancies Branch

Section 12

Costs and Interest

Sub-Section 12.1

Costs

Legislation

s. 154(1)5(b),154(1.1)2(a) The Residential Tenancies Act
s. 23, 24 Residential Tenancies Regulation
Residential Tenancies Costs Regulation

Definitions

Claimant: a person who makes a claim against another.

Costs: expenses that a claimant or respondent may have in order to file or serve a claim or application or provide supporting evidence for a claim or application or costs relating to a writ of possession.

Filing fee: a fee for filing a claim for compensation or an Application for an Order of Possession.

Respondent: a landlord, tenant or co-signer against whom a claim is made.

Policy

Claimants and respondents may make a claim for reasonable costs related to filing a claim for compensation or an Application for an Order of Possession. The Branch follows the Residential Tenancies Costs Regulation when awarding costs.

Applications for Orders of Possession

When a landlord applies for an Order of Possession they may also have a claim for compensation on the same application.

The Branch issues two decisions; one on the application for the Order of Possession and another on the claim for compensation as well as costs.

If the Branch grants the Order of Possession but does not order the tenant to pay compensation, the costs are $110.00.

If the Branch orders the tenant to pay compensation the Branch may award costs of $110.00 without requiring any receipts or other proof of expense.

If the Branch awards compensation of more than $110.00, the Branch may award costs of up to 10% of the amount of the compensation, but only if the claimant provides evidence of their reasonable costs. The Branch can’t award costs of more than 10% of the compensation. For example: The Branch awards the claimant $1,300.00. The claimant has supported expenses of $155.00. The Branch can only award $130.00 or 10% of $1,300.00 as costs.

On the day of an Order of Possession hearing, a landlord might advise the Branch that the tenant has moved so they no longer need the Order of Possession. However, the landlord can still ask the Branch to consider a claim for compensation shown on the application form. If the Branch issues an Order to the tenant to pay the landlord, it uses the above guidelines for awarding costs. If the landlord no longer needs the Order of Possession and does not have a claim for compensation the landlord can still ask the Branch to consider granting the landlord costs. If the landlord filed for the Order of Possession after the move out date on the Notice of Termination, the Branch may award costs to the landlord.

Claims for Compensation

If the Branch orders the respondent to pay compensation, the Branch may award costs of $65.00, without requiring any receipts or other proof of expense.

If the Branch awards compensation of more than $65.00, the Branch may award costs of up to 10% of the amount of the compensation, but only if the claimant provides evidence of their reasonable costs; the Branch can’t award costs of more than 10% of the compensation. For example: The Branch awards the claimant $950.00. The claimant has supported expenses of $125.00. The Branch can only award $95.00 or 10% of $950.00 as costs.

To support a claim for costs of 10% of the compensation awarded, reasonable costs may include:

• the cost of hiring a process server to personally serve a claim or application, as long as a receipt is provided;

• the cost of personal service of a claim or application by a claimant; the Branch generally awards $55.00 for service. If a claimant can show that they needed to make more than one trip to serve the respondent, the Branch may award reasonable costs, up to a maximum of 10% of the amount of the compensation awarded if there is evidence shown that the costs were over $55.00.

• the cost of sending a claim by registered mail;

• filing fees;

• costs incurred by a landlord to obtain or enforce a writ of possession;

• expenses for finding the other person, if a forwarding address is not available;

• expenses for providing supporting evidence including:


• the cost of purchasing film or developing one set of photographs as long as the photographs are necessary to support the claim and a receipt is provided; if there isn’t a receipt, the Branch may award the following:

photos: 1 – 12 pictures up to $14.00
13 – 24 pictures up to $19.00
25 – 36 pictures up to $26.50

• the cost of making photocopies necessary to support the claim when a receipt is provided (one set for the Branch, one set for the claimant or respondent); if there isn’t a receipt, the Branch may award the following:

bulk photocopies (over 10 copies) up to 25¢ per copy

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The Branch awards costs only for the evidence it needs to make a decision.

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The Branch doesn’t award costs for:

• legal fees;
• the time spent to prepare for, or attend a hearing;
• mileage, travel or parking costs;
• expenses for giving notice of termination, warnings or letters.

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The Branch doesn’t award costs if the claim for compensation is not successful.

The Branch may not award costs if it doesn’t appear that a landlord’s claim for more than a deposit was reasonable. For example: A landlord has a security deposit of $275.00. The landlord files a claim with the Branch for $1,600.00. After hearing the evidence, the Branch awards the landlord $50.00. Since the landlord’s award was significantly less than the security deposit, the Branch doesn’t award costs.

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When calculating costs, the Branch includes the following as part of compensation:

• the daily or per diem rate a tenant is ordered to pay for use and occupancy to their move-out date; For example: The Branch orders a tenant to move on July 9th. The Branch also orders the tenant to pay $17.26 per day effective July 1 until the date they move out of the unit. The Branch includes $138.08 ($17.26 X 8 days) as part of the compensation when calculating costs.

• late payment fees;

• returned cheque charges.

Procedure

Overview

A claimant can ask for costs when filing a claim for compensation or applying for an Order of Possession. The officer uses set guidelines for awarding costs.

Steps ▼

1.A claimant asks for costs when they file a claim for compensation or apply for an Order of Possession.

2.If the claim for compensation or the Application for an Order of Possession is successful, the officer awards the appropriate costs.

3.The officer issues an Order showing the amount of costs awarded. If the officer doesn’t allow certain costs, they give reasons for their decision.

Forms & Form Letters

X-Referencing

For more information on mediation, see Section 1.
Orders of Possession are dealt with in Section 8.
For more information on filing a claim, see Claims, in Section 9.
For details on hearings, see Section 11.

Policy Developed

September, 1992

Last Revision

June, 2015

Other Resources

None

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