Edmonton landlord ordered to pay $10K after retaliatory rent increase

A human rights tribunal has awarded an Edmonton woman $10,000 after her landlord raised her rent by $1,000 a month in apparent retaliation for noise complaints she made against other tenants.

The woman — who lives with physical and mental disabilities and was on government assistance — resided in a basement suite in a bi-level home with her son for more than six years starting in 2011. They moved out after making a series of noise complaints against the tenants living in the upstairs suite.

The tribunal found that the landlord failed in his legal obligation to accommodate her disability by dealing with those noise complaints, and reacted by increasing the rent beyond the woman’s means, effectively ending her tenancy.