This case was heard in the Small Claims Court of Nova Scotia.

After a hearing in which the Director of Residential Tenancies awarded a rent abatement to a tenant of Killam Properties Inc. ("Killam"), Killam appealed the Director’s decision in the Small Claims Court of Nova Scotia. For roughly eleven months, the tenants of one of Killiam’s residential properties had lived under a boil order while the company was in the process of installing a ground water system to replace an older system that drew water from a nearby freshwater lake. The tenant argued that Killam had violated the Residential Tenancies Act by withdrawing an essential service and that he should be compensated accordingly through a rent abatement.

After considering the history of the dispute and the reasons for the Director of Residential Tenancies’ decision, the Court held that the Director’s decision should be set aside, as it was based on an incorrect interpretation of the Residential Tenancies Act. In the Court’s view, the boil order had not created an inconvenience that was severe enough to make the property uninhabitable, and Killam had also been acting responsibly throughout the transition from one water source to another.

View the Decision on CanLII: https://www.canlii.org/en/ns/nssm/doc/2013/2013nssm15/2013nssm15.html

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