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TENANT’S FAMILY LOCKED IN HOUSE BY LANDLORD

Al Zajil Real Estate company based in Ajman allegedly trespassed the privacy of a tenant’s home located in Al Nuaimia area in Ajman and detained family members for long hours by locking up the door of the house, thereafter welding it while the head of family was away at work.

This harassment to tenants was meted out by the landlord who claimed that the tenant had not paid rent for more than a year, disclosed Suliman Sahoud, manager of the company during the interrogation carried out by the Ajman Police recently. The house is one of the properties managed by Al Zajil Real Estate owned by Khalid Al Mulla, owner of several properties in Ajman. While the manager said the tenant did not pay rent for more than a year, Tariq Salah, the head of the family, which was locked inside the house, stated he had paid the rents, except for a balance of Dh2, 300, and has receipts for all his payments.

The police referred the case to the Ajman Court of First Instance which ordered Khalid Al Mulla and his employee Suliman Sahoud to pay fines of Dh4, 500 each for endangering the lives of the family that consisted of three children and a pregnant woman by detaining them and locking them inside the house. The court also ordered Salah to pay the balance rent of Dh2, 300 to the landlord and evacuate the house immediately.

Speaking to Khaleej Times, Salah said: “I went to work that morning and when I returned home in the evening, I found the door was locked and welded. I called a worker from a workshop to bring his tools to open the door immediately because my family was very scared and worried. My wife is pregnant and if something had happened to her, nobody could come to her rescue because of the locked doors. This act is a violation of human rights and a cruel treatment which has affected my family and exposed them to danger,” he commented.

Salah disclosed there was no rent contract signed between him and the landlord who had asked me to evacuate the house and find alternate shelter for my family. “But I have been living in this house for more than six years and I have always paid my rent on time. Besides, my relation with the landlord was very good,” said Salah, unable to understand why the landlord was forcing him to leave the house.

According to Al Mulla: “Although the tenant was very good initially and paid his rent on time, he had changed suddenly and started to accumulate the rents for several months. I asked him to evacuate the house and pay the outstanding rent in monthly instalments, but he refused, saying he did not want to leave the house. After I ordered my employees to weld his door from outside, he paid me Dh1, 500 and requested a period of 20 days to arrange for alternate shelter for his family. I gave in to his request, but Salah called Abdullah bin Qusaif, a presenter of a social programme on a local radio station who then called up Brigadier Ibrahim Al Manai at the Ajman Police. The police immediately arrived at the house and arrested me and my staff.”

“Salah is staying in the house for a rent of only Dh700 a month, but now the rent is increasing everyday, and he refused to pay the raise which is less than 15 per cent. I just wanted him to evacuate the house and pay me the outstanding rent,” said Al Mulla. He complained that the police, without permission, entered the company’s office during midnight and found a lock, which they took as evidence of the tenant’s allegations.