With some 3,000 Housing Development Corporation (HDC) tenants and homeowners owing some $120 million in outstanding arrears, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley has warned delinquent occupiers to either pay up or they will face eviction.
Rowley made the comment as he delivered the feature address at a key distribution ceremony at the Vieux Fort Housing Development in St James on Monday. Of the 137 three-bedroom units built, keys were distributed to 48 new homeowners on the eve of Christmas.
The HDC has 50,000 registered homeowners in their system.
Rowley said it was not surprising that people behave humble and compliant when they want a house, but noted that once they receive their keys “they turn beast.” However, he urged them to change their attitude, improve their quality of life and live up to their responsibility by paying their rent in a timely manner.
He appealed to tenants to make rent a priority, noting that some homeowners have been delinquent for months.
“I am putting you on notice that the way we are running this country now… if you don’t discharge your responsibility the Government will discharge its responsibility to the rest of the country. If you don’t pay your rent we will put you out,” Rowley said.
“There is no chance that should be that you could corrupt HDC staff by giving you a bligh. There is no bligh to be had. You got a house you now have serious responsibilities.”
Housing Minister Edmund Dillon also pleaded with the homeowners to pay their rent.
“I can tell you we have a number of delinquent homeowners throughout the HDC developments in Trinidad and Tobago and we intend to take a very aggressive approach come January 2019. You can’t have a brand new motor car and you owning rent. You can’t have cable TV and you owning rent,” Dillon pointed out.
Port-of-Spain MP Marlene McDonald also reminded homeowners that the homes they received “are not free.”
Following the key distribution function, Dillon told reporters there were too many delinquent HDC tenants but could not say how many were owing and the sum involved. He said the delinquency has been ongoing for years, although the HDC has been distributing notices to delinquent homeowners and tenants daily.
In terms of implementing measures for homeowners to settle their outstanding payments, Dillon said the HDC has begun an audit as some people had moved into developments without permission, which they would not tolerate.
“We are going to work with you. We are not going to put you out. We will allow you some kind of discretion to pay your rent,” Dillon said, adding the HDC would still institute a grace period for homeowners/tenants who fail to pay their rent or mortgages.
“Once we start a grace period you know what happens,” Dillon said, adding some homeowners had their priorities mixed up.
HDC’s managing director Brent Lyons admitted the HDC was owed $120 million by 3,000 homeowners.
“This is a revolving figure. It (figure) goes up and down,” he said.
Lyons said every day the HDC sends out notices to delinquent homeowners through its debt recovery unit to pay.
In some instances, Lyons said some homeowners had not paid HDC in ten years. He said the mountain of arrears was worrying to HDC.
“We need to collect as much revenue as possible. Any revenue that we do not collect hinders our operations. We can’t continue to condone it.”
He said while homeowners may face some challenges at times they could come in and work out a new payment plan.
While HDC has failed to enforce eviction on delinquent occupiers, Lyons said when they resort to a stage of putting people out of their homes “it’s a stage where we have tried all that we have tried and it cannot be helped at that stage.”
Lyons said the PM has given the HDC support to evict delinquents, adding up to now they had only evicted homeowners for bad behaviour and illegal occupation.