SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Chalk one up for the underdog.

Margaret Beauchamp, holds the NWT rental officer's decision in her favour. Hal Logsdon ordered Northern Properties to pay her $3,168.69 in compensation after she was forced from her apartment by leaking pipes. - John McFadden/NNSL photo

Margaret Beauchamp, the tenant who took on Yellowknife's largest landlord in an NWT Rental Office hearing, has been awarded $3,168.69 in compensation.

The decision was made last Friday by Hal Logsdon, the NWT rental officer, 10 days after Beauchamp and Northern Properties squared off in the hearing.

He ordered Northern Properties to pay Beauchamp $3,168.69 in compensation.

Ironically, Beauchamp continues to live at a Northern Properties building.

She and her adult son, Jordan Cochrane have now moved into the Ridgeview apartments.

“It's fine. We've been in there for several days now and it's just fine, Beauchamp said.

She took her dispute with the landlord to the rental officer after she said Northern Properties failed to fix the damage from broken water pipes in her Matonabee North apartment and make the unit liveable again.

Her soggy saga began May 12 when several pipes started leaking in her apartment.

Beuchamp testified that maintenance crews were slow in responding that night.

But she said once they made one repair and left, another pipe would start leaking.

That left her unit very damp and damaged some of her belongings.

Beauchamp said her dispute with Northern Properties was never about burst pipes.

She said she understands that can happen.

She said her beef with the landlord was always about the treatment she received after the flood.

Beauchamp said the landlord initially told her the damage was not their responsibility and that she was on her own.

“I had no where to go and an apartment that I couldn't live in. It was awful,” Beauchamp said.

She said Northern Properties began to soften its stance a little later in the week, showing her two potential apartments in different buildings and then agreeing to put her up at the Capital Suites Hotel, which they also own.

She said the units she was shown were either too expensive or too run down for her liking.

Beauchamp said not at any time did she feel Northern Properties was sympathetic toward her.

“Yes they put me up at their hotel, but they also directly withdrew May, June and July's rent.

So I was staying at their building but I was also paying $1,540 a month for an apartment that was too damaged and unfit for me to live in.

Beauchamp had initially asked for $4,200.91 in compensation.

Logdson decided most of her claims were legitimate but he denied her request for $759.00 in lost wages.

Beauchamp said she had to take the time off work to pack up her belongings.

Logsdon ruled that the landlord's failure to complete repairs during that period did not prevent the applicant from working.

Logsdon ordered Northern Properties to reimburse Beauchamp for the one night she and her son had to stay in a hotel following the flood, the meal they had that night, June and July's rent, her electricity bill and her utility reconnect fees at her new apartment.

In his decision, Logsdon said the flood was not caused by Northern Properties.

But he ruled that it was obvious by the evidence that the repairs had still not been made to the apartment, some 57 days after the flooding had occurred.

The Residential Tenancies Act states repairs must me made within 10 days time.

In his decision, Logsdon said that meant there had been two breaches of the act.

He ruled Northern Properties failed to provide and maintain the rental premises in a good state of repair and did not provide for the tenant's quiet enjoyment of the rental premises.

Beauchamp said she was satisfied with the decision.

“The system worked. It goes to show you shouldn't be intimidated by your landlord. You don't need a lawyer, she said. “You can just follow the process, and as long as you can prove you're in the right, then the rental officer will set things straight.”

Beauchamp said it's important for tenants to document their problems.

“We had video, still photos and meticulous records as to when everything did and didn't happen.

That helped make the decision for the rental officer easier.” Beauchamp said.

She said she was OK with the decision despite not getting everything she'd asked for.

Yellowknife Centre MLA Roberts Hawkins helped Beauchamp with her predicament. He contacted Northern Properties on her behalf shortly after the flood and attended the rental hearing.

He said he was happy for Beauchamp.

“The decision is a vindication for Margaret. It shows that tenants don't have to be intimated by their landlord,” he said. “I'm hopeful this decision inspires other tenants to take the landlord to the rental office if they feel they've been treated unfairly.

“It shows that the Residential Tenancies Act works and the appeal process works.”

Northern Properties has 14 days from July 18 to appeal the decision.

If they appeal, the matter would then go through the NWT Supreme Court.

A Northern Properties spokesperson refused to comment on the case, and wouldn't say whether an appeal would be launched.