Johanna MacRae

I would consult a lawyer as soon as possible. Sometimes a legal letter from a lawyer will do the trick. Ask for the cost of the consultation beforehand. The problem with your situation is it seems as though the landlord is thinking of different ... Read More

Unfortunately, the only legislation that regulates the long let rental market is the Maltese Civil Code. This is very generic. There is no equivalent for example to the UK Landlord and Tenant Act. This would make any tenant unfair contract ... Read More

No, this is not correct. If a person lies on their income tax return, then it's the person who is in trouble. Nobody else. With regard to VAT, any VAT on an essential, like a roof over your head, is against EU law. Read More

VAT is definitely not applicable in your case. You are not tourists if you are living and working here, especially if you are an EU citizen. It's not at all risky for you. It is risky for your landlord. He should be paying an income tax on ... Read More

There is a lot of confusion with this one. You are absolutely right: your landlord is in receipt of the rental income and therefore he / she is liable for that tax. VAT ( Value Added Tax) is not payable for a roof over your head. In Maltese ... Read More

Yes, it is my website. I don't understand what the problem is. I only set up the website so that prospective tenants get the information we didn't get when we rented for the first time in Malta. I get absolutely nothing from people ... Read More

I agree this has gone off point but unfortunately you do not seem to understand the Malta Tenant Support comparison of the three tariffs. The overcharge DOES range from 43 to 103% if you look at consumptions of water and electricity at the ... Read More

You said: "There is no 'Domestic Tariff' option on the ARMS calculator!" Indeed there is. I quote from the Arms online calculator: "Please be advised that if you qualify under the Domestic rate you are to choose the ... Read More

It will obviously depend on the consumption. But if you do look at the comparison of the three tariffs on Malta Tenant Support, you will see that the overcharge does range from about 43% to 103%, if you consume the allowances allowed at the ... Read More

I'm afraid they are mistaken. We're working on it, but it just ain't happening as yet. I think what you are referring to is trying to get the residential tariff by taking the lease with you and a copy of a newspaper article (not ... Read More

With regard to utilities you still need the signature of the landlord on Arms Form H to have access to the correct residential tariff for people living in their primary residences. However, the EU is on to this. At the last meeting of the EU ... Read More

I have set up a facebook group called Malta Tenant Support and also a website of the same name. Unfortunately I cannot reproduce all the information here. Good luck. Read More

Arms Form H is the form you need to be registered as living in the property. It isn't just the money, however. It's also the danger that you may end up being technically liable for an extortionate bill especially if you are more than 1 ... Read More

There is much confusion with regard to which utility tariff should be applied when you rent a property. Something that should be extremely simple is made extremely complicated. This is more than likely to be intentional because: Arms collects ... Read More

Be very careful about the utility tariffs. Make sure you get your landlord to sign Arms Form H before you sign the rental contract to allow you to access the correct residential tariff for people living in their primary residence. (moderated: no ... Read More

There is a lot of confusion with the utility tariffs. We have a pending complaint to the Office of the Ombudsman about the discrimination of the sole, state owned utility billing company against all tenants, and we are also in contact with the ... Read More

It's more likely that you are paying at the domestic rate (Number of residents = zero). There are three tariffs: residential for people living in their primary residences, domestic tariff for occasionally used or empty properties and the non ... Read More

Hi Redmik (moderated: no free ads here please) But you're right. I don't think I mention Form F at all. Will write a blog on this soon. Thank you for your feed back. :) Read More

http://maltatenantsupport.weebly.com/blog/a-comparison-of-the-three-rates 1. Residential zero persons registered is actually the DOMESTIC rate 2. Residential with the no. of persons registered greater than zero is the RESIDENTIAL rate. 3. You ... Read More

Sorry to hear that, Marcello. I think you should maybe join Class Action Against Arms, https://www.facebook.com/groups/371466666251933/ We discuss a range of issues like the ones you mention. :) Read More

I would also like to add that if you wanted you could register your residence before the 3 months are up. Read More

You are an EU national and therefore you do not need to apply for residency. You are automatically resident from Day 1. You enjoy freedom of movement and the right to treatment equal to that of citizens of the host country anywhere within the EU ... Read More

There have been developments on the insane Arms billing system. Watch this space: http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20140724/local/Expatriate-family-appeals-to-Ombudsman-on-ARMS-bills.528991 Read More

Since last November, non Maltese do not need Maltese id to get the residential rate. A passport would be fine. Also it is Arms that cannot bill a tenant at the residential rate without the landlord's permission, not vice versa. I don't ... Read More

It depends. The greater the number of people living there, the greater the difference. Just to give an example: At the residential rate, you are allowed 33 cubic metres of water PER PERSON per year at the rate of 1.40 euro per cubic metre. If ... Read More

So, it turns out Dux that you are not on the domestic rate. You are actually on the non residential rate which is designed for businesses. Is your landlord aware of this? Have you had access to your bills? Does it say residential, domestic or ... Read More

I've copied the post with the link to Arms Form H. I would make absolutely sure that you take Arms Form H, change in the number of residents, to the signing of the rental contract. Ask your landlord to endorse it BEFORE you sign the ... Read More

Hi Roy I tried to put the link for Arms Form H again but for some reason, it wasn't accepted. I did put it in one of my comments in this very same thread. I don't know if you are on Facebook. Our Facebook group, Class Action Against ... Read More

Hi Roy I would ask your landlord if he would be willing to endorse Arms Form H, change in the number of residents. Just to be clear. Otherwise there is too much wriggle room. Remember that the residential rate is the rate you are supposed to ... Read More

No it is not incorrect. It is illegal for Arms to give you the residential rate without the permission of the landlord. Therefore you are at the mercy of the landlord and, unfortunately many landlords do not want to endorse Arms Form H for ... Read More

Things have moved on. You are now no longer required to show an identity card to get the residential rate. You can now produce a passport or most other kinds of identification. Our group, Class Action Against Arms, was instrumental in achieving ... Read More

Do you have access to the bill? If so, look at the top right hand corner of the bill. If it says zero next to number of residents and Domestic next to Consumer scheme, you are on the incorrect rate. Plus, has the landlord approached you with ... Read More

Do you know your monthly consumption? Do you read your meters on a monthly basis? Could you state the number of units of electricity you consume on average per month? Or the number of cubic metres of water per month? That's what consumption ... Read More

The only difference is the Number of residents. Oh, and the cost, of course. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=779041848802852&set=gm.686297124768884&type=1&theater Read More

We are now on the residential rate with our new landlord and have been paying about 75 euro per month at the new rates. It used to be 93 euro per month at the old residential rate and 177 euro per month at the old domestic rate. This has nothing ... Read More

For the record, our 35 month consumption for a family of 5 was the following: 17 670 units of electricity = 505 units of electricity per month 417 cubic metres of water = 12 cubic metres of water per month Could you provide your consumption per ... Read More

Ok. Let's start with first things first. Do you accept that at the residential rate the cost (NOT the consumption) is reasonable and what you are experiencing? 93 euro per month for a family of 5. Do you accept that at the domestic rate the ... Read More

No, you clearly do not get what I am saying. 1) At the residential rate we should have paid 93 euro per month (18.6 euro per person) which is 23 euro per month more than you, a family of 4 (17.5 euro per person), pays. 2) No, I refuse to ... Read More

You clearly did not understand. Oh well. Re-read and you will notice that the cost was different for EXACTLY the same consumption. So yes 177 euro per month (6185.01/35) is excessive. But nothing to do with consumption. This was the cost at the ... Read More

Maybe this short story will help explain things better: A story illustrating the insane injustice of the ARMS two tier tariff, aspiring to be in the style of Kafka: Once upon a time, a couple moved to a faraway country. The country was beautiful ... Read More

No, nothing to do with paying for the whole block. I calculated the cost of our consumption at the domestic rate (Number of residents = zero) using the Arms online calculator. This was 6185.01 euro. When I inputted five next to number of ... Read More

I'm afraid every single letting agent (and I must have spoken to about 18 different agents), even the more established, larger outfits I spoke to did not ever mention the two tier tariff. I think they see that their repeat business will ... Read More

I would make absolutely sure that you take Arms Form H, change in the number of residents, to the signing of the rental contract. Ask your landlord to endorse it BEFORE you sign the contract. Otherwise you may be entering a nightmare legal ... Read More

Maybe the following will help: My family and I moved from Britain to Malta in September 2010. We signed a rental agreement on the first place we saw which stipulated that we were to pay 100 euro per month on account towards our utility bills. It ... Read More

My family and I moved from Britain to Malta in September 2010. We signed a rental agreement on the first place we saw which stipulated that we were to pay 100 euro per month on account towards our utility bills. It turns out that this was a scam, ... Read More