[ad_1]
For two years, MKB’s task force against illegal subletting has collected and processed tips from tenants and employees. To date, 450 first-hand contracts have been terminated when suspicious black contracts have been revealed.
– The more we look, the more we find, says the group’s manager, Eva Rosengren.
Eva Rosengren leads the MKB group against incorrect lease terms, which has so far terminated 450 contracts.
The average wait time at Boplats Syd for a standard rental apartment in Malmö is over three years. Many people want an apartment faster than that.
Two years ago, Malmö’s largest landlord, MKB, started a task force that puts all its energy into trying to reveal wrong tenures, i.e. illegal subletting and black contracts.
• The group’s first months, fall 2018, 43 contracts were terminated.
• In the total of 2019, 175 contracts were terminated.
• Up to November of this year, 233 contracts have been terminated.
These are apartments in which MKB has been able to reveal that someone other than the contract is written about living in the apartment, without MKB having given permission to sublet.
A tightening of the law last fall means that anyone who rents illegally and collects a sublease in addition to losing the lease can also face a fine or prison.
– Then it will be criminal and so far we have made two police reports. But subleasing without a permit has also previously been a basis for termination, says Eva Rosengren, who leads MKB’s group against incorrect rental conditions. The group consists of four more people.
How does your group work to expose black contracts?
– We receive suggestions or suspicions about illegal subleases from neighbors or our own staff. We then investigate and analyze the problem further.
What specific tools do you have at work?
– We can consult the population register and sometimes we visit our tenants. Then we have some fixes and tricks that I don’t want to tell you in detail. It could make things easier for illegal renters.
The number of terminated contracts has increased considerably over the two years. Why?
– Neighbors and staff have become more attentive. We hear if suddenly there are a lot of races or going in and out at strange times.
What are the apartments that are rented illegally?
– This is available throughout Malmö. The first-time tenant may do this to try to earn money, but it may also be that they want to help family and friends or think they have a future use of the apartment and do not want to get rid of it.
How many of the first-time tenants dismiss the protest and take the matter to the rental court?
– Maybe fifteen this year. And then our group has still had almost one layoff per day this year. It has also happened a few times that the first tenant wins in rental court, when the proof is not enough. Once again they have been able to fix other apartments in the Boplats Syd queue.
