Expat Tenants Troubled By Rent Demands

Understanding the plight of expats who find it difficult to meet rent payments due to halt of their work, many real estate campaigns were launched with slogans such as “Help your tenants” or “Pardon the tenants”. They encouraged landlords and owners to exempt rent payments or suspend them while Kuwait is under a curfew where businesses are suspended, and many expats are under quarantine. However, several landlords have hung signs or sent letters to residents demanding payment on rental property or threaten the tenants with legal measures. 

Many landlords are flexing their legal right to collect their rent without having to tolerate any delay or heed calls for an exemption.

On the other hand, tenants have pushed back against the demands as they have not received salaries as their company’s businesses have been suspended to limit unnecessary gatherings, and strict guidelines enforced.

 A large segment of expats has either not received their salaries, or have had to have their pay deducted.

There has been no clarity on the matter if the landlord really has the authority to force expats to vacate their apartments, or is just using the threat to compel them to pay rents.  

All is not totally bleak, as some real estate owners have exempted their apartment tenants from paying rent or taken a reduced rents given the nature of their predicament. Some landlords have even requested each individual tenant submit an application, so they can be assessed on the basis if the companies they work for were impacted by the coronavirus crisis.

Members of the Real estate brokers Union have highlighted that landlords should be understanding that expats are suffering from economic repercussion as many have lost their jobs as some companies and businesses have been completely shut down.

Moreover, given the state of the real estate market, owners are encouraged to adopt prudent measures to retain their expat tenants, as if they end up in vacating their buildings, it will be difficult to fill the spaces. There is already a surplus of 80,000 vacant apartments in Kuwait, and a large imbalance between supply and demand due to the mass exodus of expats leaving Kuwait for a number of reasons.

The campaigns launched to help rent-distressed expats showcases the humanitarian approach of Kuwait and its people,  who have displayed repeatedly their charitable nature.

Representatives from the real estate brokers Union believe that some landlords in Kuwait have overlooked the humanitarian approach and ignored the current economic repercussions that the country is going through at the present time. They argued that under such a crisis, the demand for rents can be put aside, to instead foster humanity and patriotism which has allowed Kuwait and its people to survive many crises in the past until the situation has been resolved.

 

SOURCE : TIMESKUWAIT

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