{"id":110781,"date":"2020-05-20T13:22:43","date_gmt":"2020-05-20T17:22:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?p=110781"},"modified":"2020-05-20T13:22:43","modified_gmt":"2020-05-20T17:22:43","slug":"barbados-renters-not-paying-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/barbados-renters-not-paying-up\/","title":{"rendered":"BARBADOS: Renters Not Paying UP"},"content":{"rendered":"
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(BARBADOS TODAY)<\/p>

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Tenants who are not paying their rent because of the COVID-19 pandemic are causing severe financial problems for property owners.<\/p>\n

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Several landlords told\u00a0Barbados TODAY<\/b>\u00a0that since the national shutdown started in March they have been finding it difficult to get their rent from tenants who are using Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley\u2019s appeal for landlords to be lenient as an excuse not to pay up.<\/p>

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The landlords argued that while the tenants are not keeping up their end of the contract, as property owners, their personal financial commitments, including mortgage payments and utility bills for the rental properties, are piling up.<\/p>

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Dwayne Johnson said he was frustrated dealing with the issue to the point that he was forced to make the decision on Monday to have the electricity turned off at one of his all-inclusive rental studio apartments.<\/p>\n

He explained that the light bill at that location had reached over $900 and also noted that even before the pandemic started the tenant had owed him hundreds in rent.<\/p>

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\u201cTenants are telling me that Mia Mottley said that basically tenants cannot be evicted and that tenants should not be paying rent, light, water or WIFI because it is free until COVID-19 is over. That is what a few of my tenants have told me and some of them are working.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThis is extremely frustrating because at the same time, the bank is expecting me to pay my mortgage and the Barbados Light & Power is expecting me to pay them. I have to pay the water bill. I am not going to turn off the water because that is a basic necessity. My packages include utilities and WIFI, so if you do not pay the rent I cannot pay the bills. You are putting me in a situation where I am going to be bankrupt and out of business and I am not going to be able to feed my kids,\u201d he said.<\/p>

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Johnson who said he has had to employ the services of his lawyer to deal with the matter, said he understands that the pandemic has made it difficult for some persons to meet their financial obligations.<\/p>

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He said this is why since March he offered his tenants the opportunity to negotiate to pay some of the rent so he could at least pay the bills to keep them on.<\/p>\n

However, Johnson noted that some tenants were not even willing to negotiate.<\/p>\n

\u201cTenants owe, tenants left, tenants don\u2019t pay me because they are using COVID-19 as an excuse. I am like guys, you still have to pay the light but they are like no we ain\u2019t paying. We are going to live and you can\u2019t do anything about it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am not getting into any physical confrontation with anybody. I am going to use the law. I am going to go through my lawyer to deal with that. And then when people owe you money, sometimes it is difficult for you to get this money because the court process really takes time and you still have to pay the lawyer,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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