Readers Letter – “With most people choosing to rent initially, when relocating to Malta, more and more, we find many tenants getting burnt by Landlords who refuse point blank to transfer the utilities into the tenants name and therefore the tenant is forced into paying the Domestic rate* (as opposed to residential) in cash to the Landlord on a monthly basis, with rarely a receipt.

Many never see a bill and have to trust that they are indeed being charged accurately, wishing they had known beforehand, the possible Government approved scam that exists.

I have been asked consistently in the last years, if properties placed as available with Estate Agents are ‘licensed’ or ‘registered’ for rental and why when the subject of licensing, is raised by knowledgeable tenants, with the agents, the subject is either washed over, with a “yes yes,” or ignored completely.

The facts are: That a license is only required when leasing to a tourist. (tourist defined for most situations as 3 months or less) and if the lessee has been residing in Malta for more than a year then a license is not required, so it seems that if you take a lease on a property, you are a tourist for the first 3 months and the property should be licensed, (and therefore taxed. Lessors would also have to register with the VAT and Income Tax Department.) but if you remain with the lease after 3 months a license is not actually required as you are a resident.

All holiday accommodation, short lets, should be licensed. There are so many grey areas surrounding the licensing or not of long let properties which makes research quite difficult.

It seems to me that all properties for rent should be licensed/registered. It is actually getting more and more difficult for prospective tenants to find properties where the Landlord will indeed agree to a change of name on the utilities, entitling the tenant to residential rates.

Isn’t it time that agents took a stand on this? Lets face it whether you find a property on the first showing or the 12th showing, the fee is still the same. When a property is listed for rental with an agent the agent needs to ask if the tenant will be given utilities in their names, and only show prospective tenants properties that are listed as such, because many times the tenant finds out after the lease is signed, and one could say that without this information being passed to the tenant the estate agents are actually enabling, in some cases, (not all) tax evasion by the property owner? Whichever way you look at it estate agents know this happens don’t they have a duty to inform tenants so as at least this exorbitant costing can be worked into the tenants budget?

All leases carry the agreement that the tenant will be responsible for the utilities, which is fine, but tenants do not agree to pay for overcharging of utilities and need to start adding this fact to the lease before signing.

Many have been living quite oblivious to the fact that they are, and have been paying the higher Domestic rate for many years. Many believing their usage just must be high, until one day they read a newspaper, or they talk to a neighbour and find they have no comeback.

The ‘Up in Arms’ group advise all tenants in this situation to register with ARMS as the bill payer at an address as soon as possible.

So how is this scam resolved?

ARMS refuse all but the residency permit/e-card as proof of residency, in order to affect the residential rate, which is in direct conflict with EU guidelines. Many think the overcharging of foreigners in this respect doesn’t gain anything for the Country but trust me 1000’s of customers paying 35% – 60% more must be gaining something.

Surely when presenting a ‘lease’ to ARMS, that carries the details of the property, the name of the tenant and signed by the owner/agent, that should be enough for the Utility company to place the bills into the names of those residing there?

Currently the property (the owner) and not the person is responsible for bills accrued. That system smacks of laziness on the part of the provider, ARMS, who insist they are only doing as the Government tells them. A deposit is already required by tenants so I suggest a passport number is also required so if a tenant/customer absconds without paying a bill they can be traced. Perhaps if so much onus was not placed on the Landlord, with regard to arrears, they would be more willing to ‘allow’ a change of name.

Of course one could argue that if residential properties were all billed at the residential rate, there wouldn’t be these problems. The Domestic rate being designed initially to rip off foreigners but more and more actually affecting the Maltese National tenant.

Members of the ‘Up in Arms group’ against this overcharging, use the ARMS web page calculator and pay only what they are due as a resident of Malta, however many of those end up with bank accounts garnished and in Court fighting legal battles, (that can take years) for their rights as a resident of Malta to pay the residential rate for their utilities, being sued by Landlords for the excess, (Domestic rate) who fully admit they pay no tax on their income from said residential properties and brag about it.

There is a lot of talk of an increase in ‘indirect taxation,’ that will affect all, it might actually be a better idea, to focus on the tax ‘dodgers’ before targeting the honest wage earner.

Other services required by tenants are not subject to this procedure. Telephone, Internet, Cable, gas so why only Utilities?”

Patricia Graham,

For and on Behalf of Arms Class Action Group, “Up in Arms” https://www.facebook.com/groups/371466666251933/

*Domestic Rate – 35-60% more

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