Guest Post: Imagine Returning Home From 16 Hours Work To Find Your Door ‘Locked’ In Malta
A new virus is spreading throughout the Maltese islands that needs to be brought under control – and quickly.
Imagine returning home from a 16 hour day, and finding the access to your home ‘locked’.
All your belongings, your clothes, your personal documents, your medication, all locked behind a door, simply because your landlord has taken it upon himself to take the law into his own hands.
Many hoped the inception of the Rent Regulations Bill would at long last mean the market comes under some sort of regulation, but if anything, the situation has gotten worse.
Yes, a landlord must register a contract within 10 days of signing, and with that approval comes some sort of protection, wherein the landlord and tenant has access to a dispute tribunal, but that is where it ends, and for those who have not gone through it, it is not a quick fix.
Last week I went to a local police station where a young man had indeed been locked out of his apartment.
Two days previously he had paid his rent, but what he had not paid was for a clause in his contract pertaining to cleaning, most likely coming under the ‘forbidden clauses’, because he did not believe he owed it.
Now as much as contracts are vetted and approved by the Housing Authority, they are not actually declined if they contain any of those forbidden clauses.
Registering a contract that contains forbidden clauses does not mean that just because it is registered, they can be enforced.
Tell that to the landlords.
Then there are still those landlords who refuse to register, giving their tenants zero protection. Housing Authority will not intervene or offer dispute resolution to tenants where the lease has not been registered.
This young man – on being advised that what his landlord had done was a criminal act – went directly to the police station to be told to get a lawyer.
If you get stopped driving your car and you are found to be drunk, you are arrested on the spot, as this is a criminal offence.
If you run from a store with stolen goods and are caught escaping, you are arrested on the spot because, again, this is a criminal offence.
Taking the law into your own hands and locking a tenant out, or changing the locks, or evicting them either forcibly or through intimidation, is also a criminal offence – yet in this case, we are just told to find a lawyer and ‘seek legal advice’.
Meanwhile the tenant sleeps on a park bench terrified he will be arrested, because that too is a criminal offence.
People sleeping outside in Independence Gardens, Sliema
Just this week, I had two young ladies who have been living peacefully in their apartment for just over two years.
Never late with rent, and they take care of the property. Professional, educated, fully-employed tenants. What more could any landlord wish for?
Yet they faced abuse over the last few days because they refuse to move out as their washing machine had a fault and they refuse to pay for it. This resulted in them being given their marching orders at the end of May as opposed to the end of October when their contract expires. The abuse has to be seen to be believed.
In fact, it has been seen by thousands on social media, and what angered many was that their existence in Malta was being threatened.
It is a fact that Third Country Nationals require a landlord’s declaration of tenancy for work permits and residency – and it amazes me just how many use this knowledge against their tenants.
Yet, if the tenant makes public that abuse, they can be faced with yet more abuse and even charges citing GDPR.
Sadly, GDPR is very much misunderstood here.
So, what makes this criminal act any different to any other criminal act?
Why does no one want to act on it, least the police, and why does the Housing Authority not have the power to step into situations like this and protect those who need protecting?
Malta’s government needs to have more than just a register of privately rented dwellings in order to copy in the tax man.
And now that ID Malta have changed the requirements for landlord declarations for TCNs to Housing Authority approvals, there are even fewer possibilities for decent accommodation for this category of worker.
The message is simple: You get locked out, get a lawyer and see you in court.
Meanwhile your whole life is locked up in an apartment you cannot access, for a few years whilst a court case takes place?
We need people to come to Malta and work. The very least we can do is protect their rights while they are here
Patricia Graham represents the EU Nationals Advisory, a voluntary group of people who give their time freely and without charge to individuals facing issues while living and working in Malta
Lovin Malta is open to interesting, compelling guest posts from third parties. These opinion pieces do not necessarily reflect the views of the company. Submit your piece at [email protected]
Have you ever returned home to find that you’ve been locked out?