Q:

Best way to provide video of landlord doing something he lied about not doing?

I lived in a rental home where my landlord lived in the same building. The landlord had this notion he could "immediate evict" anyone. He told me if I wasn't out he would replace the locks and remove my belongings. Moving homes is a big task and I needed more than 24 hours. I purchased a surveillance camera because I knew the landlord had a key to my suite. One day my surveillance camera recorded the landlord entering my suite. He never gave me notice. I asked my landlord why he entered my suite without notice, he replied "actually no. The contractor entered your suite to see where a water pipe was. He was in there for less than two minutes". This is al lie in the sense the landlord was in there and for more than two minutes. How should I bring this up in court? The dispute is through the Civil Resolution Tribunal. Is my evidence enough or should I try to get him to repeat his lie in front of the tribunal? For example should I question him "did you enter my suite" and then present the video? Right now we're in the "facilitation phase" so I'm guessing it's best to keep the evidence hidden for as long as possible.  

A:

I don't know Canadian rental law, but as a general rule in civil cases you don't get to play Perry Mason and bring in evidence at the last minute. If you have evidence that the landlord broke the law then disclose it immediately and use it to pressure him into settling. His later lies to you are less important than the fact that he broke the law in the first place. However you can certainly testify about what he said as evidence that he has acted in bad faith.

