A controversial Halifax landlord is in trouble, again: this time, facing allegations of assault, which she denies.

Qun Liao, the owner of three different properties in Halifax is facing assault charges. She pleaded not guilty before hearing the charge against her.

The trial is set on  October 24.

This is not the first time she’s been in the news as a landlord. In fact, CBC reported that another one of her properties was under city inspection which was opened last year after a public complaint.

The Tenant’s story

It was around nine pm on 10, April when Gene Ge, an international student tenant, was evicted from her own place, luggage on the street, shaking in the dark.

Ge, who alleges that she was “pushed” and “scratched” and threatened with words, called the police.

She didn’t have a written lease with her landlord, yet she and her roommate had paid two months rent.

Qun Liao also owns two other rental properties close to Dalhousie university which she rents mainly to international students.

“I was so scared and out of breath,” during an interview that was conducted in Chinese, Ge’s mother tougue.

The landlord had expressed that she didn’t want the girl to live there anymore in written text prior to that night. When Ge finally informed Liao that she would be moving out, Liao kicked her out immediately and refused to return her deposit of $500.

When the police asked her whether she wanted to put the landlord behind the bars Ge said no.

“I wasn’t able to think straight at the time and from a Chinese perspective to send someone to prison is such a serious matter.” Ge said she just wanted all this to go away.

Yet it didn’t go away as Ge had wished. The following morning she found her luggage had disappeared again and she said Liao tried to throw a plate at her.

Ge called the police again. Although Ge insisted her luggage was in the landlord’s possession, the police were not entitled to break into Liao’s room and locate her luggage.

Is a written lease a must?

One of the concerns Ge was having is that Liao doesn’t have a written lease with her. She was worried that since the house belongs to Liao and they don’t have a lease, she is entailed to force her out.

However, that is not true according to Billy Sparks, a lawyer at Dalhousie Legal Aid clinic. Sparks have been dealing with tenancy right cases at Dal legal Aid for three years. He said there should be a written lease but if there is not a written lease, if the tenant can show that they have been paying rent they are also legally a tenant.

But Sparks does advise the tenants to have “everything in writing”

“What will happen is that the landlord will say she never told us there was a problem; we never knew that. But if you have copies of emails then they can’t say that.”

Students are vulnerable tenants

Sparks thinks students are vulnerable tenants mainly because they don’t know their rights. But for international students, it’s more than that.

“They just heard the word police and they (got) scared.” Jass Singh the former vice president of Dalhousie International Student Union says. Singh has been helping a number of tenants solve their challenges with living in Halifax.

He thinks a lot of international students try to stay away from any legal activities because they are always worried to get deported if something goes wrong.

“So what they normally do is they end up paying as much as the landlord asks, get out of their apartment and get into another new apartment.”

Qun Liao did not respond the reporter’s inquiry for an interview.