HDC: No owing tenants evicted

No one has been evicted from any Housing Development Corporation (HDC) home since the corporation started an aggressive arrears-collection campaign over a year ago. “That’s not true. People have not been thrown out of their houses,” Trixie Guy, manager of recoveries, said, refuting claims that people who could not pay their HDC bills were put out. Guy said notices to quit were sent out to people who were owing the HDC after three attempts to get them to start payments. She said even after the quit notices were sent, the HDC had still tried to help them clear their arrears. Recalling the recovery process, which was started because “plenty” people were not making their monthly payments, she said: “We go through the developments and look at people who are in arrears. This includes new and old unit-holders. “From day one a person is given his keys and reminded of his commitment to pay his instalments on a monthly basis (through a letter of agreement).”

 

She added: “If he doesn’t, this rolls over into the second month. If he doesn’t pay in the second month, he gets a second letter giving him seven days to respond. “If he still does not respond, he gets another letter giving him 30 days to respond. “If the person continues to be deliquent, he gets a quit notice, giving him another 30 days to respond,” Guy said. “It’s not an eviction letter. It’s a quit notice requesting the person to come to the HDC office and work out an arrears arrangement, in which he can make specific monthly payments over a period of 12 to 18 months. “Or he can liquidate his arrears completely. Sometimes, we ask if they want a salary deduction so they will not have to come to the HDC to pay their instalments.” Guy said there had been a vast improvement in payments since the drive started. Asked if the cost of the houses and rising inflation were reasons people could not meet their payments, she said: “I don’t find the cost of the houses extremely high.Those same houses would go for three times their price on the market. And the premiums are quite reasonable, too.” She said after three years, unit-holders are given the option to own the unit by sending them to the T&T Mortgage Finance Company (TTMF), which buys the houses for them. Unit-holders then pay the monthly instalments to TTMF. Guy said the arrears-collection drive was ongoing and would continue until all unit-holders have paid off their arrears.