Landlord Permitted to Pursue Tenant Damage Claim in Small Claims Court. This latest case builds off of my earlier decision in Dick v Robinson, 2021 CanLII 48732, and once again highlights the intense controversy over the jurisdiction of the Small Claims Court in landlord and tenant matters, and it is another decision that takes comfort in the fact that the new legislation which came into force on September 1, 2021 will end this controversy and confusion. Moving forward, if you are a landlord or a tenant, your disputes (unpaid rent, evictions, damages, unpaid utilities, unsafe living conditions, etc), are to be handled exclusively by the Landlord and Tenant Board, and the Board will hear the case as long as it is brought within one year after the tenancy relationship ended (and the claim is less than $35,000.00). Claims involving former landlord and tenants, where the claim was started in Small Claims Court before September 1, 2021, will still be adjudicated by the Small Claims Court.
Valiant Rental Properties Ltd. v Paulauskas, 2022 CanLII 1996
https://www.canlii.org/en/on/onscsm/doc/2022/2022canlii1996/2022canlii1996.html