Landlords fatten their pockets as foreigners are treated like disposable ATM machines

Landlords are making a killing off their tenants by refusing to refund deposits, charging illegal fees, and generally treating them as disposable ATM machines. 

After shedding light on the abuse faced by third-country nationals (TCNs) at the hands of their employers and recruitment agencies, this newspaper has now turned its attention to abusive practices by landlords. 

When we kicked off this investigation, the original intention was to focus on the exaggerated fees for water and electricity TCNs are made to pay by their landlords. 

Several reports that reached us showed that tenants are paying sums of money over and above their rent to cover utilities without landlords ever showing them the bills. 

But when tenants met this newspaper, the abuse they highlighted was astonishing. 

Names of tenants in this article have been changed to protect their identity. 

Illegal interest charged on late rent 

Anuj* spent seven months living in an apartment with four other people. Unlike others who spoke to MaltaToday, he does not want money from his previous landlord, and only wishes to raise awareness on how property owners are making vast sums of money from small unjust fees imposed on tenants. 

Anuj explains that he lived in a five-person flat inside a block of flats with at least six apartments full of foreign workers like him. Their rent was €350 per person, meaning that the landlord made €1,750 per month from a single apartment’s rent. 

But other fees were piled onto the rent. Anuj and his flat mates would each pay an additional €100 to cover water and electricity bills—this amounts to another €500 per flat each month for the landlord. Unsurprisingly, the tenants never saw a water or electricity bill. 

Anuj’s flat was secured through a €2,000 deposit, which was never refunded at the end of the lease agreement. “It is a known fact among the [TCN] community that such deposits are not refunded,” Anuj tells me. 

But that is not all. Anuj says each tenant was also made to pay €50 per month for maintenance for the block’s lift, netting the owners another €250 from every apartment. 

Anuj further explains that tenants must pay their landlords in one of the owners’ offices. If they pay their rent even one day after the due date, tenants are charged interest, a practice which is illegal, according to legal advice received by MaltaToday. 

‘Sons of bitches’: Barging into the flat 

George* and his three friends came to Malta on student visas and signed their lease agreement three months ago. But those three months have been nothing short of a nightmare due to their landlords’ disgusting behaviour. 

The group’s landlords live in an apartment just above theirs. For the few months that they have been living in the flat, the students have been facing some form of abuse “every single day”. George explains how the owners would barge into their flat without warning, even going into each room while some tenants weren’t properly dressed. 

The tenants would constantly receive complaints about their cooking, singing, and even talking. George explains that he has been unable to sleep, fearful that his landlords might come in at any moment. 

“They come in and call us ‘sons of bitches’,” he says, among other insults. Now, despite signing a one-year lease agreement, the owners want the tenants to leave, giving them just one week’s notice. To add insult to injury, the landlords also refused to refund the €1,000 deposit. 

In an effort to find a new place to live in, George explains that he went to a reputable rental agent, and when he was asked about his current living arrangement, he did not hold back in explaining the abuse. To his surprise, the rental agent knew exactly who his landlords were, explaining that she had also heard horror stories from previous tenants. 

Luckily, the group contacted Solidarjetà, a union formed in 2024 that protects tenants, among other groups. After becoming union members, the tenants were instructed to refuse the landlord’s request to sign an agreement that would terminate their lease. Their illegal eviction was prevented. 

Eight people in a three-bedroom flat 

Tabitha* reached out to MaltaToday after the situation in her home reached a boiling point. 

She called this newspaper after hearing about this article through other members of her community. She shares her room with two other women, while another four men live in two bedrooms. The last resident sleeps on a couch in the living room. 

This however, was not always the situation. She explains that there were originally six residents before the landlord decided to squeeze another two in. Before this, Tabitha and the other residents used to pay €250 each per month, and when she confronted her landlord about the two new tenants, he told her to start paying €200. 

The situation escalated when she was one day late to pay her landlord. But after she paid the rent, the landlord showed her a clause in her contract stating that payments received more than two days after the due date will entitle him to an extra €100. This practice is also illegal. 

After protesting that she was only one day late, her landlord terminated her contract and she received an email from the Housing Authority shortly afterwards. 

Luckily, Tabitha joined Solidarjetà. The union helped her through negotiations with the landlord, who then agreed to refund her deposit and all that is due to her. She is now searching for a new apartment to live in. 

At least half of lease agreements contain illegal clauses 

Solidarjetà President Matthew Attard tells MaltaToday that the young union always tries to reach amicable settlements with its members’ landlords. 

Attard notes that from the lease agreements the union has seen, he estimates that at least half of all contracts contain illegal clauses, adding that this is a conservative estimate. 

He says certain systemic oversights mean that tenants, especially if they are TCNs, are at the mercy of their landlords. An example of this is how, as was seen in the case of Tabitha, a landlord can de-register a lease agreement with the Housing Authority (HA) which is almost immediately accepted, no questions asked. 

This is more worrying in the case of TCNs, as their presence in Malta is only legitimate if they have, among other things, a job, and a fixed residence.  

Tenants in Malta among least protected in EU 

Kurt Xerri, a lawyer and one of the co-authors behind the Private Residential Leases Act, explains that before the 2020 reform, tenants had little to no rights and protections. Landlords withholding tenants’ deposits was the order of the day, he says. Now, however, he believes the law offers tenants sufficient safeguards. The problem arises when tenants don’t know their rights, he adds. 

This was exemplified in a case of a couple who wished to move to a new flat as it was cheaper. Around four months before their lease agreement was set to expire, their landlord asked if they wished for a renewal, to which they declined and informed him verbally about their decision. 

However, they were unaware that they needed to formalise their notice in a letter to their landlord. Their landlord refused to refund their €1,000 deposit, while claiming that the pair caused €5,000 in damages. 

This, Xerri explains, is where organisations such as Solidarjetà are crucial, since one of the union’s duties is to inform tenants of their rights. He notes that the Malta Landlords Association is also a crucial player in this sector. 

Xerri emphasises that due to the fact that the population that lives in rented homes is largely foreign, such educational campaigns are essential. 

But the capacity for landlords to take advantage of foreign tenants with little knowledge of local laws is not lost on Xerri. While defending the 2020 reform as one that gives tenants more rights and protection from abuse, he still believes Malta’s rental laws are pro-landlord. 

“Compared to other EU member states, ours are among the least protected tenants,” Xerri says, explicitly noting that the reason for this is because the majority of tenants in Malta are foreigners.