Rent Distress Act needs a COVID-19 update, BC Court explains why only urgent cases, and releasing people from jail

The Rent Distress Act governs the seizure of property by commercial landlords for the non-payment of rent. Its provisions are utilized in cases, including a recent court decision concerning the seizure and sale of a pizza oven, by a landlord in Tofino.

Unfortunately, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the act is hopelessly out of date. It only permits a tenant to keep $200 worth of property relating to their trade and sets out an archaic list of other property that a tenant is allowed to keep. The list includes one cooking stove with pipe, one lamp, one washboard, two pails, one table, one clock, one broom, one shovel, three smoothing irons, and one chair, knife, spoon, fork and plate for each member of the debtor’s family.

A smoothing iron is a predecessor to the modern iron that you would heat up on your stove, to press your “ordinary wearing apparel” which a landlord would also be required to leave a tenant with. Why a tenant would be allowed three smoothing irons, but only one spoon, is a distinction lost in time.

Section 15 of the Rent Distress Act actually authorizes landlords to “break open a house” to seize property “clandestinely conveyed or carried away by a tenant or lessee”.

In the context of small businesses being forced to close due to COVID-19, the Rent Distress Act need to be updated promptly to prevent commercial landlords from seizing and selling equipment that restaurants, and other businesses, will need when they are permitted to reopen.

Also discussed is a recent message from the BC Supreme Court explaining why it is currently only able to hear urgent cases. The message points out that it would be unsafe to require people to serve on juries with 11 other individuals, or to be compelled to attend in person as a witness.

The other important point made by the court is that the justice system needs to be open and transparent: it must be accessible to the public. As discussed during the show, one solution to this might be to permit public access to the digital audio recordings that are made of all court proceedings in BC. That would facilitate hearings being conducted using Zoom, Skype, or other technology. 

Finally, the different mechanisms, and considerations, for releasing people from jail to avoid infection are discussed. BC has already stopped 95 people from having to serve weekend jail sentences as these individuals would be low risk and having them come and go from jails each weekend would place them, and others, at risk.

Follow this link for a transcript fo the show and links to the cases and legislation discussed.