Landlord-tenant relationship: Reciprocal mistrust

Reports of misdemeanours by both landlords and tenants in Malta are not rare.

Tenants continue to come forward describing harrowing experiences endured by them due to unbecoming attitudes of their landlord during a lease period of residential premises. They speak of abuse, aggression and the occasional racist taunt. Indeed, the situation seems to have become so critical and not a one-off case of abuse that the tenants’ union called for the licensing of landlords.

Tenants, too, abuse their rights by damaging property, refusing to pay rent, creating nuisances, or illegally subletting, which can result in significant financial losses for landlords through costly repairs, lost income and legal fees.

In my professional practice, I’ve also had cases of tenants exploiting the right to withhold rent for minor issues or using the warranty of habitability to make unreasonable demands for repairs or compensation.

So, is a landlord-tenant legal relationship a journey of reciprocal mistrust in light of Malta’s rental laws’ evolution from the end of the Second World War to date?

The post-war period was characterised by what I would describe as an anti-landlord legislative doctrine in light of the provisions of the then requisition order law (today repealed) and the Reletting of Urban Property (Regulation) Ordinance enacted in 1931.

It was a period of laws and policies across a range of otherwise unconnected doctrinal areas, from constitutional law to land use law to criminal law, treating landlords as lesser than property owners. Those were laws that exposed the systemic and insidious anti-landlord bias in the law.

In contrast, by 1995, landlords’ rights in Malta had been enhanced by legislation, particularly the 2021 amendments to old lease laws, allowing for rent increases up to 2% of market value via a means test for tenants who no longer qualify for protection and the option to regain possession of the property if they don’t.

Landlords also benefit from the new private residential lease laws, which require upfront payment of no more than one month’s rent and specify that rent is paid monthly. Moreover, the new regulations for private residential leases do not set fixed rent prices, instead allowing landlords and tenants to agree upon the rent amount.

Throughout the years, various attempts have been made by the state to try and reach a balance between the interests of the landlords and tenants, a balance which apparently has not yet been reached to the satisfaction of both. Consequently, despite a robust legal relationship regulating them, landlords and tenants continue to mistrust each other.

Bad landlords are great at playing victim and blaming tenants for their issues. This is patterned behaviour. Even in the event of reaching a reasonable compromise, abusers remain patterned creatures. If it were that easy to cure them, they wouldn’t be the abusive lessors that tenants are dealing with.

Such an abusive landlord character would typically be one with demeaning behaviour, harassing and law-violating, stemming from excuses based on a previous, equally abusive tenant that made him/her paranoid. Landlord harassment can include any actions that interfere with the tenants’ peace and comfort in their home.

These can consist of threatening to change the locks, opening or withholding the post, entering the tenants’ home without permission, resorting to violent or intimidating language or behaviour and putting pressure on the tenant to move out before the tenancy ends.

It can count as harassment even if someone else similarly acts on behalf of the landlord.

All too often, there are unsavoury disputes between landlord and tenant due to who is responsible for getting repairs done or regarding the deposit or unpaid rent, all of which can easily drag on for long periods of time, even after the lease period has terminated.

The flipside of the coin is that some landlords have an abundance of horror stories about bad tenants who damage the property, disturb the neighbours or engage in illegal activities. I once had a case of a landlord who stopped allowing tenants to paint the walls after a particularly creative renter threw handfuls of glitter at the wet paint. The glitter remained long after the tenant had left, despite numerous coats of paint.

Tenants may also illegally sublet a property for profit, exploiting rent control policies to the landlord’s financial detriment.

Normally, the rental agreement will outline specific obligations agreed upon between the parties. Some obligations also arise under statute.

I’ll end by pondering the tenants’ union’s call for the licensing of landlords.

Many jurisdictions already require landlords to be licensed or registered, either for all properties or those in designated areas, to ensure they meet certain standards of management and maintenance.

Whether landlords should be licensed is a debated issue, with arguments in favour often focusing on increased property standards, better tenant protection and the professionalisation of the rental industry, while arguments against highlight potential rent increases, reduced housing stock, increased costs for landlords and bureaucratic hurdles.

When the system is fairly administered and the courts do their job, there is actually more balance than one would believe.

A landlord-tenant relationship is perhaps not an ideal one, but one built on full trust requires mutual transparency, clear communication, timely maintenance and respect for boundaries and legal obligations from both parties.

Landlords must be upfront about expectations, respond promptly to requests, uphold property standards and respect privacy.

Tenants, in turn, must pay rent on time, report issues, maintain the property and follow the lease agreement.