In a publicly posted BC Civil Resolution Tribunal dispute, applicants and roommates Jeffrey Bond and Jasmine Bonnett filed a civil claim against the respondent and their other roommate, Ashley Kipping. The landlord was not a party in the dispute.
Bond and Bonnett claimed that Kipping stole property, asking for $4,000 for that and other costs, including unpaid rent and utilities. Kipping claimed she donated or disposed of unclaimed junk items and denied owing anything.
Initially, it was just Bond and Kipping living at the home as roommates. Bond and Kipping allowed Bonnett and her partner to live in a trailer on the property beginning November 1, 2021. Bonnett and her partner could use the house’s kitchen and bathroom and store some belongings there.
Kipping told the tribunal that the landlord asked Bonnett and her partner to move by January 31, 2022. Soon after, Kipping and Bond were given two months’ notice for eviction and were told to move by February 28, 2022.
Bond’s claims for unpaid rent and utilities were dismissed, but the tribunal partially accepted their claims about stolen belongings.
Kipping was given a “grace period” alone in the home to collect her things and move out. They offered her this grace period because she was “confrontational and hostile” and because she contracted COVID-19.
This is when the applicants claim that Kipping stole and removed their personal belongings.
While Bond and Bonnett couldn’t prove all of their claims, they could do so for some of them. Kipping even acknowledged that she had disposed of some of their belongings but claimed they had been abandoned.
The applicants were able to share a screenshot of a post that Bonnett made in a Facebook group. The post featured photographs of two bookshelves and a spa trolley that they claimed Kipping got rid of. Kipping didn’t deny the claims.
There were also screenshots of tools for Bonnett’s Neurotris facial rejuvenation device. Kipping said she had “no use for these odd facial things,” but the evidence was enough to prove Bonnett’s claim.
One final claim was that Kipping disposed of a sewing machine from the 1970s that belonged to Bonnett’s mother. The applicants were able to prove this claim as well.
Bonnett was awarded $360 in damages for the belongings and $14.70 for dumping fees to dispose of garbage that Kipping left behind.
Ultimately, Kipping was ordered to pay $491.56 within 30 days of the decision.