B.C.’s Civil Resolution Tribunal has ordered a man to pay $300 in damages after a woman’s kayak vanished and then re-appeared with his name on it.
Tribunal member Deanna Rivers said in a March 6 decision that Lise Marie Butlin said Perry Maxfield took her kayak and damaged it.
She claimed $2,000 for the cost of replacing the kayak and $700 for her time in dealing with Maxfield.
Maxfield said the purchase of their unit at a resort included the kayak.
What happened?
Butlin said she purchased the kayak in September 2022 for $700. She provided the tribunal the bill of sale and proof of payment.
Butlin said the kayak was stored on a rack in a common storage area at a resort. Photographs in evidence show a red kayak on a rack, with Butlin’s name and phone number on luggage tags. The kayak has no other descriptive markings.
Butlin said the kayak went missing sometime after October 2022. As she was not able to locate the kayak, she bought a new one. She claimed $2,000 for the cost of the new kayak and accessories.
Butlin said sometime in June 2023, the kayak was put back on a rack in common storage.
“The photographs show the red kayak with the same luggage tags identifying Mrs. Butlin, but now with Perry Maxfield’s name and unit number handwritten in black on the kayak’s side,” Rivers said in the decision.
Maxfield said when he bought his resort unit, the contact of purchase and sale said that “everything” went with the unit, and this included the kayak.
Maxfield did not provide a copy of the contract of purchase and sale, or a statement about the kayak.
“They did not say the kayak was in the unit at the time of sale,” Rivers said. “They did not dispute taking the kayak or writing on it.”
Rivers said that based on the bill of sale, proof of payment and photographs of her contact information on the kayak before the black writing was applied, she accepted Butlin owned the kayak.
“I find that it is more likely than not that Perry Maxfield damaged the kayak by writing his name and unit number on it,” Rivers said.
So, Rivers said, the question remained what damages are appropriate.
Butlin claimed $2,000 for the cost of a replacement kayak and accessories.
“However, she provided no receipts showing the purchase,” Rivers said. “In any event, the photographs show the kayak has been returned to the common area.”
Maxfield did not dispute he wrote on the kayak. Rivers found Butlin was entitled to compensation for the aesthetic damage to the kayak.
“Mrs. Butlin provided no evidence of the difficulty or cost to remove the writing or the amount the kayak was reduced in value by the writing,” Rivers said.
She also found that Maxfield withheld the kayak from Butlin from approximately October 2022 to June 2023, causing her loss of its use over the winter and spring months.
“Based on the facts and evidence in this dispute, I find it is reasonable to order Perry Maxfield to pay Mrs. Butlin $300 for damage to the kayak and loss of its use for eight months, Rivers said.
