Landlord is Raising Utility Fees, Blocking Internet

Hi There,

I'm hoping I can get some advice on what we can do in this situation.

My boyfriend and I are renting a room in a house short term on a month to month basis here in St. John's, Newfoundland. We have been here since Nov 15 and we will be leaving on March 1st as we were only in the area for a short time anyway. Unfortunately, the Kijiji gods must have had it out for us because we ended up living with the one unbelievable tyrant in a provice of friendly Newfoundlanders.

There have been many issues that have come up so far, such as our landlord/roommate being creepy towards me in a sexual way, taking the television from the main room into his room "because it is his" even though the original set-up was that it for the common area, and threatening to throw our possessions away if we left them around. He is a very angry and rageful person and he seems to deal with his issues by trying to exert his power over others. We can usually deal with it because we are pretty easy going people. However one major one happened yesterday which has really escalated the situation.

Our landlord received his energy bill and went through the roof when he saw that it was a couple hundred dollars more expensive than it normally is. We reminded him that it is winter in Newfoundland and the temperature has been well below freezing for the past couple of months. Also, with 4 people in the house rather than the normal 2 the bill will naturally be higher because there will be more baths and showers, lights on, computers, etc. Also, there has been an increase in electricy costs this year which he might not be factoring in.

Oh, I should mention that when we moved in the apartment was advertised as "all utilities included". It was originally advertised as $300 per month for a single person, but when we told him we were a couple he said that he would raise it to $400 to cover the extra costs in utilities of two people instead of one. This was agreed upon when we first moved in.

He refused to understand this and came into our room shouting, saying that it was our fault that we wasted electricity and that we owe him an extra $200 to cover the bill. We have not been wasting electricity, the thermostat in our room is at a normal temperature, we don't leave windows open all day, and we don't do anything out of the ordinary which would make it our fault. Certainly the bill is higher because there are more people in the house, but we have already agreed to pay extra rent to cover this and we have agreed on "utilities included".

When we told him that we would not pay he shouted that he was going to call the police and have us evicted. He said that since we had not gotten reciepts for paying rent the last three months then he could lie to the police and say that we had not paid him rent. We said to go ahead and call the police as they probably won't be interested in a civil matter like this when we have done nothing wrong. As this was mid-Feb, we offered to move out right away if that is what he wanted, but only if he refunded half of our Feb rent.

He said, "Oh no, you are going to stay here and I am going to make your life a living hell until you pay me that money."

The next thing he did was to change the password for the internet. He did this because he knows that I make a living online as a freelance writer and that without internet I cannot do my job and make any money. He did this deliberately to try to stop me from working and make me lose money. Luckily, we have other sources of internet such as the public library or mobile devices and so it will not affect me too much thankfully but it is very inconvenient. However we did pay for a room with internet included, so I don't think he has the right to take this away to "punish" us or try to blackmail us.

He also has said that we cannot use the clothes washer and dryer anymore. When I said that we have the right to use it because it was included in the original agreement, he said something along the lines of "just go ahead and try".

This morning he said that he will take the bed and the desk out of our room (which is our only furniture) because he needs to "sell it to pay the electricity bill". I said that we had paid for a furnished room so he couldn't do that. He said he doesn't care and he will do it anyway and we can sleep on the floor. I told him that if he really needs to sell it he can do it in 10 days after we leave, but of course he wants to do it right away so it inconveniences us. He has shouted, swore, and made threats to us.

What I want to know is,

Are we right in thinking that he is not justified in asking us for this extra money?

What can we do if he threatens us, takes our furniture, or otherwise infringes on our rights as tenants?

Thank you for your help

PS. We have considered just moving out right away, but we really don't want to be forced out of our home because of this type of behavior, especially when we have already paid the rent for the month and it would cost us a lot in accommodation if we needed to stay in a hotel or somewhere for the last 10 days here in St. John's.

Newfoundland is not a U.S. state. If you want answers under Canadian law, consult a Canadian lawyer or legal resource.

In most U.S. states, if the landlord wants to change the terms of a month-to-month tenancy he can do so on one month's notice, and if the tenant doesn't like the new terms the tenant can put in notice to quit (end the tenancy).

I'm not familiar with canadian law, but here in washington that would constitute blatant harassment and be grounds for you to sue for lost services due.

And for what it's worth, the police won't do a thing for the landlord.

Honestly, peace of mind is far better than putting up with that kind of person if you can afford it. If not, do you have any friends in the area to stay with?

For matters of Canadian law, you might try here.