just a thought - lifts

depends on the building lease - often lower floor apartments paid less to install lift and less per annum as get less use. The alt is often lower floors have no access to the lift at all

I see...so how does that work then when there is a mix of say 10 apartments and its a further mix of owners and renters.

I guess its back to the lease/rental agreement then - and what if there is no mention of this or say lighting or cleaning costs? these being the usual communal costs.

This I suppose would then be again complicated by those on lower and mid level floors using the lift for roof access for say washing or sunbathing

There will be an agreement between the owners of the block and the owners of the apartments. If the apartments are rented, there will be separate agreements between the landlorda and the tenants. It should be included in these agreements - if it isn't, well, you have a problem if both parties say "not me"

hmmmm interesting......

and if the agreement between owners includes for an equal split then i suppose the agreement stands until such time as they re-agree a new agreement to include for a scale of charges to be applied.

yes, unless the agreement is time limited

its a big question, but how can anyone assess each tenant/owners usage of the lift when stairs are readily available. and that then impacts on any % use split.....seems to me that common sense needs to prevail.

Its not about common sense, but about a legal agreement. If that says its equal shares, thats what it is - if it says its proportionate to the floor number, thats what it is.

Sometimes landlord pays, sometimes tenant pays - all depends on your agreement, and is why a solid agreement is so important.

of course its about common sense in that is the way the agreement should be devised...with common sense and within reason for all concerned.

and all very interesting in terms of different attitudes towards fairness, common sense and within reason for different nationals. but as we know there is no common sense here...OIM

well, often people don't properly read a lease agreement as they think the landlord will be reasonable, and wouldn't impose something "unfair"

They then end up on a forum like this complaining that they are liable for repairs to the lift, which could be hundreds of euros -  its not about fairness or common sense, but about whats in the agreement. If common sense isn't used when signing the agreement, well, they've only themselves to blame.

As long as an agreement has been signed without coercion, the law doesn't care about fairness or common sense

georgeingozo wrote:

As long as an agreement has been signed without coercion, the law doesn't care about fairness or common sense

...and even then it's not really about what the law says (unless it results in a criminal case) as with civil cases it may not be worth fighting - case in point, our tenants in the USA skipped out on their lease, thereby breaking the lease and opening them up to a civil case, we consulted an attorney and the costs of pursuing them for our losses and the low likelihood that they would actually pay assuming the case was found in our favour, made it not worthwhile...sob! A harsh lesson in what the law says and what is actually likely in the real world.

aha the good old maltese law...... and a good many years to chase and follow up on enforcing it...

georgeingozo wrote:

well, often people don't properly read a lease agreement as they think the landlord will be reasonable, and wouldn't impose something "unfair"

They then end up on a forum like this complaining that they are liable for repairs to the lift, which could be hundreds of euros -  its not about fairness or common sense, but about whats in the agreement. If common sense isn't used when signing the agreement, well, they've only themselves to blame.

just for the record I am not in this position and am not complaining I simply asked a question that came up in conversation in a bar last night and was interested in the opinions - i am ultra cautious about any contract or lease here or anywhere else in the world - I know exactly what my responsibilities are and that of my landlord.....pipe and smoke it springs to mind.

the good thing though is that if your not happy with it - you can move....there are plenty of qood quality empty properties out there and good landlords too....who dont take advantage of the unwary...those landlords who do this will ultimately lose out as word does get round especially amongst ex pats

"just for the record I am not in this position and am not complaining" - never thought or said you were

Hi. I'm  new to this forum and am quite surprised with the comment.
'there are plenty of qood quality empty properties out there and good landlords too.'
Apartments that are 'well priced' in comparision to previous years  are hiding some nightmare. A friend of mine got an  apartment on the Sliema front  with car space for a ridiculously cheap Euro 1100 per month.
Then the daily blasts and  building next door wall to wall started.
A living nightmare!
The good apartments  are quickly snapped . Then again, going by other locations such as Mellieha ,that's a different matter.
There has been talk of empty properties in Malta , however one has to seriously bear in mind that these are purchased /built as investment potential wherein their owners can afford to keep and not  bother to sell or rent.

much of what you have said is sadly true but i know many people who have found ideal properties and good landlords too...but then we live in Mellieha...lol.....but seriously they are out there you do however have to find them - we, like most of our friends here, have found fabulous properties with locations too...it does take time and experience and of course word of mouth.....

you also have to consider that where they are built for investment and the owners can afford to wait for the right price - it works just as well the other way - good tenants can be hard to find too.

yes, you're right. I am a property owner and looking for tenants but too finicky on finding the right ones after a  very negative experience. I don't care if the house is empty, would rather leave it that way rather than have a bad vibe about some people .

to be honest i dont blame you - it took us 12 months to find the ideal property, location, neighbours and landlord. They are very happy with us and we are so so happy with them and been with them for two years now.

we used to own property in UK and rent them out but had a couple of bad tenants and vowed i would never do it again....

hammersfan wrote:

georgeingozo wrote:

As long as an agreement has been signed without coercion, the law doesn't care about fairness or common sense

...and even then it's not really about what the law says (unless it results in a criminal case) as with civil cases it may not be worth fighting - case in point, our tenants in the USA skipped out on their lease, thereby breaking the lease and opening them up to a civil case, we consulted an attorney and the costs of pursuing them for our losses and the low likelihood that they would actually pay assuming the case was found in our favour, made it not worthwhile...sob! A harsh lesson in what the law says and what is actually likely in the real world.

Wow, we had the same thing happen to us in the States.  Luckily it was only the last two month of the lease and they left the house in pretty decent repair.


Every time I get on this forum I count my lucky starts for finding the place we did with the landlord we did {{knock on wood}}.  Our lease agreement was very straight forward and simple and he has been a huge help when we have had even the smallest problem.  We are on the top floor and pay no extra for the lift.  We pay our utility bill every 3 months or so (he shows us the bill) and then we see his bill for the building (hall lights, lift, etc) and that is split by all 5 units. 

I will start thanking my lucky stars a little more often now.

Jennifer