“Litigation costs” lawsuit hearing was held in November, 2025. It took seven years, but Orchard House lessees who refused to pay Westsea’s litigation billings have finally been heard in court. News of a recent precedent follows in the next item, and lawsuit details are laid out on the page Disputing WS’s Legal Billings.
Court rules that landlord litigation costs cannot be billed to lessees: A B.C. Supreme Court-level justice ruled on 9 September 2025 that lessor litigation expenses to oppose some lessee tenants are NOT billable to all of the building’s lessees. Three lessees at the St. Pierre leasehold in Vancouver’s West End sued their landlord on various questions, with the issue of the landlord billing all of the building’s lessees its legal expenses to oppose the few of them becoming the key issue at trial. This ruling supports the position of a handful of Orchard House lessees who refused in 2018 to pay Westsea’s vast expense to oppose a lessee tenant who had challenged landlord Westsea Construction billing him his share of the building’s re-glazing project. Media have not yet reported on the court ruling, nor has its effect on the Orchard House lawsuit yet been resolved. Details will be reported on this site’s page Disputing WS’s Legal Billings.
Surrey lessee families face bankrupting $205,000 billings at Surrey-Newton’s Sun Creek Estates leasehold to refurbish the wood-frame buildings they don’t own, which awful situation demands Provincial action. Read a news summary and slide show prepared for MLAs half-way down this page, or access the slide-show report directly via this link:
“It’s time for legislation” a member of Cabinet said to me in a phone call on 25 November 2024. While we’re impatient, we at least know that our need for legislated protections is recognized by more than one member of the new B.C. government Cabinet. The issues affecting long-term residential lessees and details of the Province’s May 2024 public consultation can be read about on this site’s page: We need protection by statute!
‘It’s none of your business how I spent your money’ sums up the renewed refusal by lessor Westsea Construction to make any financial disclosure, this time to the lawyer-written request on behalf of a lessee for information about spending. Read the updated story here: https://orchardhouseleaseholder.ca/disclosure-refused-by-westsea/
OrchardHouseLeaseholder.ca 