The verdict in an injunction filed by 18 Belvedere tenants against St. Maarten Housing Development Foundation (SMHDF) reported on in Saturday’s paper is interesting. The court agreed with their deducting up to 75 per cent of the arrears in rent or current lease period for long overdue repairs to their units.
That’s quite a far-reaching decision especially when dealing with a public agency, but the judge was shocked at the poor state of most of the plaintiffs’ homes and declared several no longer suitable for habitation. The defects were called serious and in certain cases even a health hazard.
SMHDF said it only received a limited amount of insurance money for the damage caused by Hurricanes Irma and Maria last year, but there was already a considerable maintenance backlog before 2017. While the foundation mentioned negotiations with the World Bank to make use of the Recovery Trust Fund, there is no guarantee that effort will also be successful.
It’s important to point out that the litigants were also ordered to start by paying 25 per cent of their outstanding rent or current lease period within 14 days. This should afford SMHDF at least some short-term income to start executing the necessary work.
The argument that a majority doesn’t meet the rent was wiped off the table, as this is no valid reason for landlords to stop complying with their responsibilities. The latter in fact does entitle the suspension of such payments.
This ruling came on the heels of a presentation in Parliament by outgoing Ombudsman Nilda Arduin in which she explained that while their investigation regarding the Rent Tribunal was initially met with reluctance and hesitation, progress to improve its operations is being made. She mentioned a recent hearing with representatives of the tribunal and government, during which fixed dates for follow-ups were agreed on.
It is often said that tenants are exploited on the island because of relatively high rents and lack of tools to fight unscrupulous landlords. However, these few days would seem to indicate that “the small man” is not altogether without recourse in these situations.
