Vancouver landlords have been fined $90,000 after they subdivided a single-family home into a rooming-house operation.
An inspection of the home in July, 2025, found the house near Commercial Drive had been subdivided into 21 rooms with at least 17 tenants and multiple bathrooms and plumbing fixtures added without permits.
That August, the City of Vancouver issued an Order to Vacate.
Following an investigation, the Residential Tenancy Branch found the landlords did not maintain the rental property in compliance with health, safety and housing standards required by law and failed to complete urgent plumbing and electrical repairs.
They were ordered to pay $85,000 for the first violation and a $5,000 penalty for the second.
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Global News rang the doorbell of the home on Thursday, but no one answered.
We also knocked on the door of the owner’s home in Richmond, but no one answered there either.
Neighbourhood residents were shocked to hear about the home, but said the rental market in Vancouver is tough.
Dane Lawrence described the situation as excessive.
“It’s pretty grim,” he said of the rental market, “if that’s sort of the state they’re going to in order to rent out a room in a building like this.”
Vancouver’s new mayor told Global News that the new council is very committed to tenant protections.
“I haven’t personally heard of anything like that, but I certainly understand that scenarios like that do exist and we’ve certainly had a few,” Mayor Pete Fry said.
“This is great work by our city inspectors to ensure that the standards of maintenance and occupancy are upheld.”
The City of Vancouver said a property use inspector found the rental home vacant earlier this year and said no further enforcement actions were deemed necessary.
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