Prince Edward Island’s rental appeal tribunal has accepted a handwritten receipt for a second-hand bicycle as proof of a tenant’s loss after her landlord withheld her own bicycle. In Angela Rowlings v. Vanessa MacFarlane, 2026 PEIRAC 10, the Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission awarded a $120 credit, reducing the tenant’s net payment to the landlord from $280.63 to $160.63.
The March 10 decision partly allowed the tenant’s appeal while rejecting her food-loss claim and confirming that the monthly tenancy ended on July 31, 2025. It draws a distinction between practical proof of a modest replacement expense and the statutory notice needed to end a tenancy.
A dispute after repairs and withheld belongings
Angela Rowlings rented a room with shared common spaces under an oral agreement beginning in July 2024. Rent was $600 a month, with a $250 security deposit. The landlord had agreed to prorate rent when Rowlings was away and to store some of her belongings, including a bicycle.
Water and sewer problems later required repairs that made the property temporarily uninhabitable. On June 5, 2025, Rowlings told the landlord that she had found another place to live. She stopped paying rent and considered that sufficient notice in the circumstances.
The Rental Office found that the monthly tenancy continued until July 31. It calculated $1,100 in rent owing, then deducted $311.61 for a rent refund and earlier overpayment and $507.76 for double the security deposit and interest. That left $280.63 payable to the landlord. It also ordered the return of the tenant’s personal property but rejected compensation for a replacement bicycle and food.
Practical proof of a replacement purchase
The commission found that the landlord withheld the bicycle despite a request for its return. There was no evidence that it had been abandoned or that the landlord could lawfully retain or dispose of it. Rowlings bought a used replacement for $120 through Facebook Marketplace and produced a handwritten receipt.
The landlord challenged the receipt’s validity and said the original bicycle was eventually returned in perfect condition. The commission nevertheless found that withholding it breached the Residential Tenancy Act and that the resulting replacement expense had been proved on a balance of probabilities.
The receipt identified the item, purchase date and amount paid. The commission considered $120 reasonable for a used bicycle and recognized that private second-hand online sales commonly do not produce formal receipts. It emphasized the accessible, practical nature of rental proceedings rather than demanding the same evidentiary formality as a civil court.
That was a finding about this receipt and the surrounding evidence, not a rule that every handwritten document proves a loss. The food claim failed because there was insufficient evidence to establish it.
Prorated rent did not create a daily tenancy
Rowlings also argued that the unavailable accommodation and the parties’ practice of prorating rent changed the notice required to leave. The commission disagreed. Under subsection 55(2), notice ending a monthly tenancy must take effect at least one month after the landlord receives it and on the day before rent is payable.
The commission accepted that no rent was payable for June 1 to 5 while repairs prevented occupancy. But relief from rent for those days did not redefine the rental period. Without a clear agreement changing that period, a monthly tenancy did not become a daily one each time rent was prorated.
The June 5 notice therefore did not end the tenancy that month. The commission maintained the July 31 end date while adding the $120 bicycle credit to the existing calculation.
The operative order required Rowlings to pay the remaining $160.63 within 15 days of the March 10 decision. The bicycle award was an offset against that balance, not an additional cash payment ordered from the landlord. The reasons do not establish whether the balance was subsequently paid.
