SXMElections.com

MARIGOT--French Quarter resident Daniella Chance Glasgow and her brother Marcel never could have imagined six years ago how difficult it would be to evict a tenant from one of their properties. If they had, they undoubtedly would have changed their minds.

Despite landlord Marcel Glasgow following procedures under French law to evict tenant Daphne Doyle (38), a Trinidad national, her companion and eight children from a two-bedroom house at #62 Around the Pond after the landlord/tenant relationship deteriorated three years ago, it took a mobilisation of neighbours, a blocked road and the intervention of Gendarmes to finally remove Doyle on Friday.

Frustration and concern for the property boiled over after a series of fires were lit over the space of a few days, allegedly by the tenant’s 14-year-old son, causing extensive damage. Each time the fires were put out by the Pompiers.

However, the suspect was released after the Prosecutor said there was not enough proof to hold him and claimed there were no witnesses to the fires.

Chance, sister and legal representative to Marcel who resides in Aruba, explained that Doyle first had rented the 800-euro-per-month two-level house with a ground-floor garage six years ago when she had three children, but later the number of children had increased to eight, making a two-bedroom apartment no longer suitable. In addition, the apartment was being kept in a deplorable, unsanitary condition. The rent paid was being subsidised partly by Caisse Allocation Familiale (CAF).

“When my brother tried to access the apartment three years ago after he had formally notified the tenant in advance, he was refused entry and so had no option but to force his way in. He was then attacked by the tenant’s three eldest children, one with a knife, one with a bat and the other with gloves. From that point on the relationship was broken,” Chance said.

She said that despite two registered letters sent to the tenant giving notice that the landlord would be taking back the property and subsequent court processes, not to mention more than 4,000 euros in unpaid rent, there was still no sign of the tenant vacating the apartment.

“She kept saying she was looking for another apartment, so I turned to the CAF, telling them this is getting out of hand. You need to visit the house. It’s not in a liveable condition. The money is secondary, but our primary concern is to get our house back. The CAF said the law stipulates for eight children you should have a four-bedroom apartment, but there was none available,” Chance said.

“It came to a point, the law is not protecting us, we are going to lose our house, what are we going to do? The only time the system understands is when the population moves. So we blocked the road and vowed not to move until the authorities found a solution to get her out of the house.”

The unfolding drama drew not only Gendarmes to the scene, but also Vice-Presidents Ramona Connor and Wendel Cocks and French Quarter representative Stephen Patrick.

However, the situation ended peacefully with the tenant vacating the apartment by a 6:00pm deadline after cooperating with the Gendarmes and handing over the keys.

Chance said the law protected tenants more than landlords.

“You can’t put tenants out in hurricane season June to December, nor at Christmastime, New Year’s Day, or back-to-school time,” she disclosed. “I don’t see why you cannot take your apartment back if you feel it is not being kept in good order. We are sending a message to the highest authorities that this law has to change. There are more St. Martiners in the same situation. I know of someone who has been trying to get a tenant out for the past 14 years.

“The house is in an unliveable condition and my brother has lost a lot. This situation proved that strength is in the unity of the population. If we didn’t stand up to this, the tenant would still be there and, who knows, there might have been more fires.”

Marcel’s cousin Patricia Vlaun Glasgow agreed, adding that returning the apartment to a liveable condition and repairing fire damage would cost a lot of money.

“After complaining so much and trying to move this tenant out, and given the government and social services couldn’t do anything because they had nowhere to move her to, are they willing to help pay the expenses to return the apartment to how it was in the beginning when it was a new apartment with everything in order?” Glasgow questioned.

Vice-President Ramona Connor said the tenant already had started to move out.

“She is staying with a friend and the children are with their grandmother. I have put my social workers onto her case and we are trying to find alternative accommodation for her with Semsamar,” Connor said.