LANDLORD "VICTIMIZED' BY RENTAL FIRE RULING

Arbitrator Orders Tenant Compensated For Belongings She Lost In Pot-Linked
Blaze.

A provincial arbitrator has ordered a Mission landlord to compensate a
tenant for furniture she lost after her marijuana growing operation caught
fire, gutting her rental home.

Outraged landlord Frank Kokoska, 74, says he has been doubly victimized by
the ruling under the Residential Tenancy Act.

The fire caused some $38,000 in damage, including $24,000 in repairs not
covered by insurance. And arbitrator Shirley Carter ordered him to pay the
pot-growing ex-tenant $1,902 in compensation for household items he says he
carted to the dump after the blaze.

"The whole thing stinks," said Kokoska, who looks after the rental home on
behalf of his disabled son.

The ruling was handed down in July, but it became public after a formal
complaint was made to the province by the Alliance of BC Mobile Home Park
Owners, who have taken up the case.

Alliance director Angela Plasterer said from Victoria that the "bizarre"
ruling is an example of the anti-landlord bias of several arbitrators hired
by the province to resolve residential tenancy disputes.

The written reasons for judgment by arbitrator Shirley Carter do not
dispute the fact that "the fire was the result of a marijuana grow
operation." It makes no reference to the illegality of such operations.

Carter writes that the tenant, Shawna Marie Los, stated after the fire that
she told her landlord he could "throw away all items in the premise with
the exception of the china cabinet."

Kokoska told the arbitrator he had no agreement to store any items, but
that he'd kept all of Los' effects until January of this year, when he
hauled them to the dump.

Kokoska said in an interview that Los disappeared after the fire, leaving
neither a telephone number nor a forwarding address. He said criminal
charges were never laid in the incident. Los could not be located by The
Sun for comment.

Los returned in March, six months after the September 1999, fire, demanding
her furnishings or $10,000 in compensation.

Although the Residential Tenancy Act requires the landlord to hold the
property for only three months, Carter ruled that Kokoska failed to follow
the proper procedure for "abandonment of property."

"The landlord did not safely store the items and did not provide a proper
accounting of the items."

Although Los conceded during the hearing that she'd asked Kokoska to
dispose of most of the items, the arbitrator nevertheless billed the
landlord for a long list of household effects, including $1,000 for the
"antique" china cabinet.

Kokoska said the items were either fire-damaged, or worthless. Since the
tenant had disappeared, it was ridiculous to rent space to store them, he said.

"You couldn't get $200 for the whole thing if you tried to sell it," he
said Wednesday.

Kokoska said he spent more than $2,000 in legal fees to attend the hearing,
and can't afford the cost of the appeal. Besides, he said "What's the point?"

Kathy Brereton, acting director of the Residential Tenancy Office, said she
cannot comment on individual cases. All complaints are investigated, she said.

Although the fire did not occur in a mobile or manufactured home, the case
was brought to the attention of the mobile home alliance by Kokoska's
friend and neighbour Nick Kosture, who owns the Cedar Acres Trailer Park in
Mission.

Kostur said the ruling is a "classic example" of the anti-landlord bias.

"I'm in the rental business and the arbitrator always rules against me,"
Kostur said.

"The only reason we ever have a hearing is to find why [he's guilty]. They
know I'm guilty before I walk in."