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When the Tribunal sends out the ‘notice of hearing’ to both parties, copies of all
the applications lodged with the Tribunal and documents supporting the claims will be
attached.
It’s vital that you attend the Tribunal hearing. If you’re not there to represent
yourself, the other party is likely to succeed in whatever claims they’ve made.
If for some good reason you can’t attend the hearing you should contact the Tribunal
Registry immediately.
If you’re not sure of what to do to get ready for a hearing, contact the Tenancies
Branch for help.
Hi, I'm Joanne.
Hello, my name is Bruno. I’ve got a hearing coming up at the Residential Tenancies Tribunal.
My tenants have not paid the rent and they're making a lot of damage to the place. Can you
please explain to me what I must bring and what I must do when I come in on the day?
Make sure you’ve got everything you think you might need at the hearing to back up your
claims and bring them with you on the day.
You might need things like: the actual tenancy agreement, rent records, inspection sheets,
letters, receipts or photographs. Also, the dates when things happened are very important.
Jot down a brief account of events, including phone calls and what dates you made them.
If you’d like to show footage of the property or anything like that you can, but first you’ll
need to inform the Tribunal Registry beforehand.
Make sure you've got your documents clearly labelled so you can refer to them quickly
and easily. As well as trying to cover everything that
supports your claim, make sure you understand that the tenants may be making claims against
you.
Shall I bring someone with me?
You don’t have to go to the hearing alone; you can bring someone with you for support.
In most cases parties represent themselves and sometimes a landlord may be represented
by their real estate agent.
The neighbours of the rental property have seen all the damage that the tenants have
been doing. Can I bring them along as witnesses?
Yes. You can bring anyone who can help your case as a witness to tell the Tribunal what
they know. It’s up to you to arrange for them to attend so you must let them know when
and where the hearing will take place and please make sure that they're on time.
If a witness can’t attend the hearing in person, they can give a written statement
or a statutory declaration. But you should know that evidence is treated as being of
more value if it’s in person, as it can be questioned by the other party and by the
Tribunal.
If a witness refuses to attend the hearing and you think that their evidence is important,
you can contact the Tribunal Registry and ask for the witness be summonsed to the hearing.
My English is not so good. Is this going to make a problem for me at the Tribunal?
I don't think your English is a problem, but if you think you'd like an interpreter, contact
the Tribunal Registry well before the hearing date and ask for them to arrange for an interpreter
to be at the hearing. This is a free service.
If the tenants decide to give me all the money they owe me, do I still have to come to the
Tribunal?
If the hearing isn’t needed because the problems have been sorted out, you as the
applicant need to contact the Tribunal Registry as soon as you can in writing and you also
have to let the other party know that the hearing’s been cancelled.