When Raffaele Falvo and Duanne King had a falling out, things turned extra sour when one roommate had to foot thousands for the other’s cell phone bill.
Falvo filed a case with the BC Civil Resolution Tribunal for the maximum claim of $5,000, saying he was left to finance thousands for King’s outstanding phone charges on their shared cell phone plan.
The pair entered an “informal shared living arrangement” in early 2023, and Falvo placed King on his “Friends and Family” cell phone plan, which enabled King to finance a new phone.
When they had a disagreement, King switched to a different service provider and asked Falvo to sell the phone. However, Falvo claimed he could not sell the phone as it belonged to the cell phone provider, and he instead sent it back to King.
The cell phone accrued charges up to $1,221.01, and as it was on Falvo’s plan, he had to foot the bill. When he asked to be paid back because he was facing additional non-sufficient funds charges, King responded that the reimbursement should be limited to $200 for the cancelled contract.
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According to the decision, Falvo tried to explain over text that most of the phone bill was the balance owed for the new phone and not the cancellation fee of the plan.
Falvo continued to message King about the payments, explaining how he would face cascading late fees. However, King agreed to send an unspecified amount of money but then never replied to the follow-up texts.
Using the text messages, the court found that King owed Falvo $1,120.13 for the cell phone bill. The court said that the text messages between the pair showed that King “acknowledged their obligation” to pay for the phone.
While Falvo’s claim for the reimbursement of King’s phone bill was successful, the other aspects of his claim were dismissed by the court.
In his $5,000 claim, Falvo has also tried to argue he was owed punitive damages – payments granted to punish a “morally culpable” respondent with malicious acts. However, the court did not find this claim appropriate for the current situation.
Overall, King was ordered to reimburse Falvo a total of $1,212.26, including $1,120.13 in debt and $92.13 in pre-judgment interest.