Apartment block administrator guilty of taking unilateral action against tenant

A court presided by Magistrate Antonio Micallef Trigona this morning found that an apartment block administrator was wrong to halt an elderly tenant's access to a lift for not paying its maintenance fees.

A smartly-dressed Anthony Zammit, stood in the dock as the Magistrate read the judgment, which explained that "irrespectively of any reason, valid or not, even for unpaid fees, the tenant was denied access to the lift, rather than taking the matter to court."

Zammit was elected as administrator of the Residents Association at Vincenti Buildings, in Strait Street, Valletta.

According to the court, Zammit acted autonomously and without any legal right, and without any legal or authoritative consultation. This, according to the law is illegal.

Zammit was granted a conditional discharge, while also given two-weeks time to hand over the lift-key to the 78 year-old woman. Failing to do so would make Zammit liable to a penalty of €5 per day.