Monday, February 13 2012

GOVERNMENT is being called on to restart the Rent Assessment Board, to set up tenants and landlords’ registries and to put measures in place to stop price gouging on land and house rental.

In a packed auditorium last week at the Centre of Excellence, Macoya during a three-hour National Consultation on Rent, landlords and tenants freely ventilated their concerns on the issue of rent and made several suggestions.

Tenants called for rented houses and apartments to be certified by a competent body. Others called for measures to protect people, particularly the poor, from persons posing as real estate agents or landlords and presenting fake deeds claiming ownership.

The consultation, the first in a series to be held countrywide was organised by the Ministry of Legal Affairs. Minister of Legal Affairs Prakash Ramadhar in a brief address said that the objective of the consultation was to find “long term and viable solutions” to the long lists of complaints being made regularly by landlords and tenants.

The Rent Restriction Act expired in February 2002. In June 2006, Ramadhar said, Cabinet agreed that the re-enactment of the Rent Restriction act “should not be pursued.”

This, however, he said does not stop tenants from seeking redress from the courts for matters under the Rent Restriction (Dwelling Houses) Act and the Land Tenants (Security of Tenure) Act. On the issue of a landlords’ registry, Ramadhar noted that landlords are required to register with the Financial Intelligence Unit. “Failure to register comes with a penalty.”

On complaints in which immediate redress was being sought, persons were advised to seek free legal advice from the Hugh Wooding Legal Clinic in St Augustine. Due to the numerous complaints, Ramadhar said he has instructed a review of the system. Complaints from tenants ranged from “numerous unreasonable restrictions being placed on tenants, which amount to freedom of association” — to exorbitant rates. A female single parent from Toco told of being at the mercy of her landlord who evicted her because she spurned his attempts at getting involved with him in an intimate relationship.

Another woman spoke about not being able to rent a proper place because children were not allowed. A public servant related his inability to rent a proper place because of inadequate pay, while others spoke about being robbed by persons posing as landlords and real estate agents by presenting fake deeds.

Landlords also complained about being abused by tenants. This includes failure to pay rent on time, damage to property, leaving the property without paying off utility bills, and being noise nuisances to other tenants and neighbours.