Landlord fined for not taking shoes off in tenants’ home

A Canadian landlord has been fined for not taking his shoes off in his Muslim tenants’ home in Brampton, Ontario.

John Alabi, 52, rented out the first floor of his property to Walid Madkour and Heba Ismailin in December 2014, but while showing prospective new renters round the property, after serving the existing tenants two months notice to vacate the apartment, the landlord failed to remove his shoes, which Madkour and Ismailin said was against their Muslim religious practices.

The tenants were particularly annoyed when Alabi refused to remove his shoes when showing their bedroom, which was being used as a prayer room

What’s more, the coupled claimed that the landlord did not offer them sufficient warning before entering their apartment to give Ismailin time to cover up according to her faith.

Alabi claimed “they [his now former tenants] are using their religion to victimise me” and said he did everything he could to accommodate them, but a tribunal court disagreed with his views and ordered the landlord to pay $12,000 (£7,200) to the couple, the Toronto Sun reports.

“I was humiliated, I was made to feel I have no rights, I was made to feel that I'm not wanted in society,” Alabi told the newspaper. “I feel powerless. They rented my place for only two months. Two months! It's just not fair.”