It was framed by the property manager of One Rosedale Rd. as “just people misbehaving.” But a racially charged eviction hearing for an Asian-Canadian couple ended Tuesday with a look at only recent complaints and not the years of turmoil at the building.

At question is whether, as accused by their landlord, the couple “substantially” interfered with other tenants’ enjoyment of their Rosedale apartment building.

Three tenants testified Tuesday before the Landlord and Tenant Board in Toronto about encounters in early 2017 with Dot Pang, a former journalist who moved into One Rosedale with her banker husband, Paul Pang, in 2010.

Read more: Tenant showdown ratchets up in Rosedale apartment building

The tenants told adjudicator Roger Rodrigues they had negative encounters with Dot, and in one case, Dot and Paul, in common areas.

Henry Cole, a tenant since 2011, said he and his partner ran into Dot at the door to the underground garage and that Dot was “scowling and staring at us … like her first born had just been killed” and “muttering under her breath in a foreign language.”

Cole, who does not speak Cantonese — the Pangs do when not using English — has a history with the couple. He complained in an email to the landlord that Dot had uttered “profanities” in the garage encounter. But questioned at the hearing, Cole said he “misused” the word profanity, explaining he did not hear any but assumed Dot was swearing in Cantonese, because of her “tone.”

Dot testified that nothing was said in the awkward encounter, but that Cole and his partner laughed afterward. She also said another tenant’s assertion that she swore in front of that tenant in English and insinuated she was “mentally ill” was false.

The couple’s lawyer, Caryma S’ad told the hearing the allegations against her clients are “petty and frivolous” and questioned the evidence that they “substantially” interfered with others.

The landlord’s lawyer told the hearing his client is “between a rock and a hard place” and simply wants “peace and tranquility.” Property manager Aubrey Hannah told the hearing the landlord had spent $45,000 on lawyers and an outside consultant to try to remedy the situation.

After the hearing ended, Hannah said, referring apparently to all parties involved: “There are people — adult, good educated people — misbehaving.”

The adjudicator said he will decide by Monday if the landlord has made the case for eviction. The hearing focused only on the three recent complaints mentioned in the eviction notice.

Friction began almost immediately after the Pangs moved in and intensified over the years, resulting in calls to police (by the Pangs, and others); at least one tenant petition calling for a police-mediated meeting with the Pangs; an independent investigation into allegations of racism; and eviction.

The Pangs showed the Star two defaced posters they said they’d placed in the laundry room to remind others of their reserved time. One had “CRAZY CHINESE” written on it.

On Saturday, the Star detailed a chronology of unneighbourly behaviour in the building, including the removal of human rights material posted by the landlord as a result of the Pangs’ complaints of racism. One property management sign called on tenants to “stop the racial discrimination at 1 Rosedale Road immediately!”

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Some tenants felt the landlord was labelling them racist.

The Pangs, the only Asian tenants, shared notes, emails and the investigator’s report with the Star. The investigator found the removal of the human rights material by unknown hands was a problem and that the Pangs genuinely felt they were being discriminated against, but had also behaved badly. Discrimination by any individuals could not be proven.