Debe 'landlord': I lost my house while trying to help people

Hoping to share his side of the story, the licensee of a Housing Development Corporation (HDC) house in Wellington Gardens, Debe, has visited the corporation's Port of Spain office to meet with officials.

However, he did not get to speak to anyone.

Speaking to Newsday in Debe, he said an HDC security officer told him on Friday that the office was closed because of the covid19 pandemic.

The "landlord," who asked to remain anonymous, has been accused of subletting the house to a family. He lives in a nearby property owned by his common-law wife.

On Thursday, an HDC representative served him with an eviction notice.

He said, "No one came and took a statement from me.

"I lost my house while trying to help people.

"The man handed me the letter yesterday (Thursday) and left."

He said he tried to speak with the HDC representative, who responded, "Take it to the higher authorities."

The man repeated, "No one from HDC has spoken to me for my side of the story. I have never missed a payment to the HDC."

On Thursday the HDC issued a statement saying it had decided to issue the notice after an investigation, which found both parties culpable.

The HDC has given the tenants –a couple and their three children – permission to stay at least for two months, after which it will do an assessment.

The release said the HDC has a "zero-tolerance position" on subletting, and that all HDC agreements "provide for the termination of the tenancy, if the tenant breaches these terms."

The 25-year-old mother of the family of tenants took to social media last weekend to complain about the landlord, and her posts went viral. She also accused him of threatening the family.

She said the landlord was evicting them because they could not afford to pay rent this month as a result of the pandemic.

Newsday later highlighted their plight.

She is a domestic worker, but has not been working since the stay-at-home measures were implemented, and her husband is a salesman.

On Friday, she declined to comment when Newsday visited the house.