Technological changes certainly bring business opportunities, but often disrupt ways of doing and acting.
Technological changes certainly bring business opportunities, but often disrupt ways of doing and acting. Some tenants looking to make ends meet offer their housing for rent on the "Airbnb" website.
An owner rents a housing with a two-year lease to a real estate broker who claims to want to move in after a separation. The owner goes to the Rental Board* to request the termination of the lease and damages. He declares that the broker changed the purpose of the premises by subletting his housing through "Airbnb" without ever asking for the owner's permission. The owner also cites complaints received from other tenants about the constant coming and going of tourists in the building.
The court considers that the broker never intended to make the housing his primary residence. Therefore, it orders the termination of the lease since the broker diverted "the residential use of the housing to make it a commercial establishment", contrary to the rules set out in the Quebec Civil Code.
However, the court refuses to grant damages to the owner, recalling that one must have been impoverished in order to claim damages. Although the owner suffered damage, he did not suffer any financial prejudice caused by the broker's actions since all the rent owed to him was paid.
In light of the changes affecting our society, let us remember what Albert Einstein said: "It has become evident today that our technology has surpassed our humanity."
*271856 31 20160412 G, 289247 31 20160729 G, 1976392 and 2052895
