WARNING: Maltese Landlords will try to rip you off, also in Gozo!

This is not just Malta, I know of it happening in the UK, Austria, France & Spain. You have some good ones and you have bad ones. Its all luck of the draw sadly.

Yes, that is true. So my tips will be helpful anywhere.

We have had three properties here and all three landlords have been great, the first two returned our deposit in full the day we moved out!

They are not all bad!

Ray

My best landlord of all time has been here in Malta - after 25 years of renting.

Well, I only had bad ones, and I think 3 is a good number to make an assumption. Sure there can be exceptions.

But all of the 3 wanted to squeeze as much as possible from us, especially the last one was very greedy and made up all sorts of stories to keep the deposit.

interesting.  what was the excuse for keeping the deposit? 

i have actually found the everyday maltese people to be the opposite of greedy.  i have heard quite a few people say, "but money isn't that important to me," which is sort of unheard of in some places.

that said, they were regular people and not business people running luxury rental properties or tourist operations.  i imagine people in many countries believe expats living among them are rich and can "afford" whatever financial mishap dished out to them. 

as an aside, if landlords repeatedly try to keep your deposit without cause, what would be the consequence of your not paying the last month's rent or last two months' rent or whatever?  i had a friend do that in nyc and he claimed to have never suffered any legal action.  but then nyc is a very pro-renter legal environment.

All countries have bad as well as good landlords not just Malta.

I think the difference is that there is no recourse for tenants being taken advantage of. What are the laws re: the percentage a rent can go up per year? Where is the dispute office? Of course homeowners will take advantage everywhere but if a tenant has no rights (and this is setting aside the other extreme of squatters' rights that go back to post-war) then the bad apples take more advantage. Simple.
It's the same with the flouting of driving rules. No repercussions so a lot of people take advantage.

lottelita wrote:

interesting.  what was the excuse for keeping the deposit? 

i have actually found the everyday maltese people to be the opposite of greedy.  i have heard quite a few people say, "but money isn't that important to me," which is sort of unheard of in some places.

that said, they were regular people and not business people running luxury rental properties or tourist operations.  i imagine people in many countries believe expats living among them are rich and can "afford" whatever financial mishap dished out to them. 

as an aside, if landlords repeatedly try to keep your deposit without cause, what would be the consequence of your not paying the last month's rent or last two months' rent or whatever?  i had a friend do that in nyc and he claimed to have never suffered any legal action.  but then nyc is a very pro-renter legal environment.

the consequences of not paying your last rent may well result in the Landlord placing a garnishee order on your bank accounts and salaries - leaving you with little more than basic minimum  living wage if you are lucky...

but he'd first have to go to court, right?  and i imagine it cannot be more than the security deposit.  i suppose it could be more if he could document actual damage and actually sue (and win).

it seems like maybe withholding rent is not the worst option if you suspect your landlord is a bit shady.

You may have misunderstood, the garnishee order freezes your bank accounts and income (if any) in Malta until the outcome is sorted leaving you with no money! If it takes months that's your problem.
The landlord does not need to sue or prove anything, the court will take his word over yours!

Ray

That sounds brutal!

Why the hell on earth would the court take his word over yours?

I mean I know in Germany that a tenant has so many more rights and is much better protected by the law then here in Malta.

Actually there you do have rights when renting a place in Germany.

Hopeless in Malta.

Its Malta everyone knows everyone else and they have a massive friends network - and your a foreigner - thats why garnishees work in the LLs favour Foxy is correct

But at the end, they should know, that without foreigners Malta would be nothing, as they do not have any producing industry...

A couple of things to read.....

A PDF doccument Tenant's Rights Brochure for MALTA

Renting a Property in Malta

i cannot believe that.  how can someone garnish anything without a lawsuit in his favor?  i know governments can do that to but landlords are just people.  i would seriously like someone to verify this.

lottelita wrote:

i cannot believe that.  how can someone garnish anything without a lawsuit in his favor?  i know governments can do that to but landlords are just people.  i would seriously like someone to verify this.

Please believe it .... its not scaremongering - it happens more than you know - law and contracts mean nothing in malta - Landlords wield a lot more power than you know too - they have votes which the political parties want and you as a foreigner and a tenant dont.  Many (but not all) estate agents usually wont help or mediate in tenancies, once theyve got their cash they dont care... there is no "real" protection for you as a tenant - thus you need to protect yourself as much as possible from day one- police will intervene but will do their best not to get involved and will says its a civil matter.....

dont think for one moment that garnishees are difficult to get and enforce  =  its usually taken on the word of the landlord who doesnt even have to prove a debt exists.....

A friend of mine and a member of this blog had to go through almost three years of hell because of a dispute with a landlord and utilities and she was garnisheed.

Be aware Be wary and Beware.

ewa22 wrote:

But at the end, they should know, that without foreigners Malta would be nothing, as they do not have any producing industry...

sadly once the euro signs appears in the eyes its hard to ignore - greed knows no boundaries - it is limitless...  Money is a big motivator

it also has to be said many of your hosts want Malta back.....

lottelita wrote:

i cannot believe that.  how can someone garnish anything without a lawsuit in his favor?  i know governments can do that to but landlords are just people.  i would seriously like someone to verify this.

Welcome to Malta!

Ray

We seem to have a very good landlord.  We overpay utilities, it's in the contract what we agreed to pay, so we still pay it even though it's too much for our usage.  We miss a months rent when the overpayment gets too high, so it's not a problem.  It's all okayed and there's emails to prove it all.   

I'd read all the stuff about landlords being able to get garnishee orders and our contract did say we needed to pay through a Maltese account, but we changed that from the start. I wasn't comfortable with it at the time after reading stuff on here. We do have a Maltese account, but all our money gets paid into our French bank account and stays in it.  We only transfer a small amount into our Maltese account, I'm assuming that protects us?

are you 100% sure all your payments are going against the account - do you see the bills that are paid but are you paying residential tariffs for elec and water - and its dangerous to assume anything - especially in malta

Toon wrote:

are you 100% sure all your payments are going against the account - do you see the bills that are paid but are you paying residential tariffs for elec and water - and its dangerous to assume anything - especially in malta

Yes, the bills are being charged at the residential rate, we see them.  We also see that he pays them, but obviously only the bills and not all the money we pay to him each month.  That's why when it starts mounting up we missed a months rent rather than changed the contract.  All our income goes straight into our French bank account, where it stays, obviously we pay tax and stuff here but we don't have Maltese employers.

Glad to hear it Sam

Sam4321 wrote:

We only transfer a small amount into our Maltese account, I'm assuming that protects us?

i'm still not sure a landlord or anyone else can just garnish your wages or freeze your bank account.  it just doesn't sound like something possible in a developed country.  it would mean there is no rule of law here.  and why wouldn't the foreigners complain with their embassy/consulate and get the law changed or at least send out a warning?

can someone provide a link, even a facebook story or a story on here?

but if it is true, and i don't think it really is, i guess your french bank account is protected if it has no presence in malta.  i don't think france has to honor any lien without a court judgement.

Listen  = this IS happening  = its not made up -

if you wish to read all about what can and does happen -  please read this blog of a real life event

http://maltatenantsupport.weebly.com/blog


but this is the Important one
http://maltatenantsupport.weebly.com/bl … -to-an-end

now tell me it cant happen.!!!!!!

do you believe me now

trust me this happened .... its why the writer of the blog has continuously campaigned for regulation and equal rights to tenants for residential tariffs

Embassies and even the British High Commission are useless in this regard - i know this from first hand experience having met personally with the British High Commissioner  and their hands are tied as to what they can do .... all very nice with cups of tea and cakes - but they can  and will do absolutely nothing with this

here is the chronology of newspaper articles as background to the issue

http://maltatenantsupport.weebly.com/a-chronology.html

Read this article in the ToM
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/vi … rge.524324

No one is dismissing the fact that it happens, it happens everywhere across the globe. You have to be careful whenever you rent because you will have small chance of being screwed over. It's a fact of life.

You will also come across tenants from hell!

Yes there is someone dismissing that it happens - Lottelita is.


true enough there are dodgy tenants as well as LLs -  am not dismissing that fact - am simply saying Garnishee orders happen more than you know  - or realise....  so protect yourself and keep very little cash in your accounts  - but it still doesnt protect your salary from being garnished in a back door manner

This method is used by LLs in the main = am surprised no tenant has garnished a LL for the return of the illegally withheld deposits etc

...hmm now theres a radical idea

I do think that the subject has been done to death and if anyone is not aware by now then they deserve what they get.
There will always be some new (newish) members who do not believe what is being said by those who have been here for a number of years but that is their problem!

Ray

Toon wrote:

Listen  = this IS happening  = its not made up -

http://maltatenantsupport.weebly.com/bloghttp://maltatenantsupport.weebly.com/bl … -to-an-end

it sounds like they had a very bad contract where they had a plain clause to just pay €100 per month and no reconciliation with the actual utilities use/billing.  if that's the case, then i guess technically, they did owe the landlord, as bad as he was.

there's nothing you can do if you sign a bad lease contract.

lottelita wrote:

there's nothing you can do if you sign a bad lease contract.

Thats why........

Never sign something on your own, always get a friend at least to check it over with you.

Toon wrote:

Read this article in the ToM
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/vi … rge.524324

this isn't a landlord issue. 

here, the woman is a condo owner.  condo owners have to pay their dues.  period.  you cannot not pay and negotiate with the association because it doesn't seem like the association is using the money.  and it's probably in her condo bylaws that the association can garnish wages/accounts.

malta couldn't function as a real country if they had mickey mouse courts.  it does seem to have a weird antiquated rental system where there are "primary residence" rates for utilities and you need the landlord's cooperation to get that established.  but i just can't believe the court system is so dysfunctional at such a basic level. 

maybe someday my landlord will hose me and i will be back here bemoaning my lot.  until then, i will trust otherwise and that if i withhold my last month's rent, i probably will not have my assets frozen.  and in case i do, i should make sure i have minimal amount in my maltese bank accounts.  lol

but thanks for the heads up.

Toon wrote:

Yes there is someone dismissing that it happens - Lottelita is.


true enough there are dodgy tenants as well as LLs -  am not dismissing that fact - am simply saying Garnishee orders happen more than you know  - or realise....  so protect yourself and keep very little cash in your accounts  - but it still doesnt protect your salary from being garnished in a back door manner

This method is used by LLs in the main = am surprised no tenant has garnished a LL for the return of the illegally withheld deposits etc

...hmm now theres a radical idea

though i disagree how bad the situations can be, thanks for letting newbies (like me) know.  have to watch out with landlords.  move out time is always stressful.  always.

SimCityAT wrote:

lottelita wrote:

there's nothing you can do if you sign a bad lease contract.

Thats why........

Never sign something on your own, always get a friend at least to check it over with you.

if that person used a rental agent, s/he should go chew the agent out.  that's a very bad oversight and should have been noticed right away.

with respect I doubt you know much about malta if you think for one moment that an agent has any responsibility for the rental once he has his commission - hinestly they re not bothered you may get the odd one  but seriously

THERE IS NO REGULATION OF THE RENTAL SECTOR IN MALTA ... PERIOD

THE COURTS ARE A JOKE ? EVERYONE AND THEIR GRANNY KNOWS IT - EVEN WORSE IF YOU ARE THE ONE TAKEN TO COURT AND YOU ARE JOHNNY FOREIGNER

- there was a well know judge Polidano i think his name was who once said " we must teach the foreigner to respect our country" hmmm

Toon wrote:

THE COURTS ARE A JOKE ? EVERYONE AND THEIR GRANNY KNOWS IT - EVEN WORSE IF YOU ARE THE ONE TAKEN TO COURT AND YOU ARE JOHNNY FOREIGNER

- there was a well know judge Polidano i think his name was who once said " we must teach the foreigner to respect our country" hmmm

yes, there is an ambivalence here.  on the one hand, the locals are very friendly and easy going on a daily basis.  but when i talk to them at length, it's apparent they sort of hate all this immigration.  they like it because it keeps the economy very strong.  but they hate it because, like most people, they are tribal and want to be among themselves.

and the semi-isolation of foreigners in places like san julians, sliema and st. paul's bay exacerbates the problem because we don't "assimilate" with the locals.  but then, they sort of keep it that way by shaming maltese nationals who don't speak maltese.  so of course the english fluency is much less in little towns like safi (where it's so quaint) and foreigners (like me) just find it 1000x easier to live in sliema or san julians.  then we naturally never learn maltese and the locals disapprove of that, too.   

it's a very small population here so it's understandable they feel overrun with foreigners.  but it's complicated.

and yes, i know almost nothing about nothing in malta.

and yes, i imagine foreigners are at a disadvantage in a suit against a local, though i don't think we should be too surprised. 

and i didn't mention this last night but even if the contract stated that they owed the landlord, it would be unheard of in most functional places i know to get a prima facie injunction unless the contract also stipulated that the landlord could recover it that way without actually going through a lawsuit. 

so the court system is a little suspect, though i will give it the benefit of doubt for the time being.

anyway, it's been an interesting discussion.  thanks.