Malta - British Expat Forum

Just a heads up to anyone who ends up in court here. I have been subject to a very long and drawn out court case in Gozo and let me tell you as a foriegner youwill not get a fair hearing. The local judges, lawyers and notories are not going to favour justuce over family/friends/neighbours.

It is not just me that this has happened to, really one must be very very careful here as it is very easy to find one self in court here. I would strongly suggest seeing a lawyer before you sign anything here, especialy a rental agreement or anything having to do with a builder.

The building trade here is so corrupt it is frightening. You can not fire anyone here and expect not to have to pay dearly. The criminal mentality of the local contractors is well known here so be careful.

On a side note, I would absolutely be careful not to hire anyone your estate agent recommends as they get a kick back from the contractor, and if possible stay away from contractors in Gharb. Although I never knew it, it seems like Gharb has a reputation for criminality.

Hi Anthony, and welcome to the forum

I've not been to court, but I've heard many stories of cases being dragged out for years, whether locals or foreigners.

Re: building contractors - as with anywhere, personal recommendations are the best, one of the reasons we set up the recommended suppliers forum for Malta The contractor I used in Gozo I'd trust 100%, both in honesty and in quality. Our lawyer suggested we didn't use our originally chosen contractor as he said he'd had to take him to court many times for clients, and so switched to the one mentioned above, who was recommended by a very good friend of ours.

A.G. I think your right about foreigners getting should i say "rough justice", a few years ago a young Maltese woman drove her car into the back of mine (just a shunt), i was judged (by the insurance company) to have been guilty of driving in her way and lost my no claims bonus. I was guilty of doing the British thing and driving my car the nearest convenient spot to avoid causing conjestion, something you should not do in Malta until the wardens have attended and investigated.

I know that in the last decade no country can favourably compare to the UK, for 'Political correctness' and going out of its way, to make sure 'political and financial migrants' get the same fair and just, opportunities and treatment, as the 'earlier settlers'; but, on the whole, how does Malta/Gozo compare? I ask this question as I know that Malta and Gozo were not the first choice of quite a few british expats now living there. What made them leave their first choice and end up there? and all in all are they still glad they did, or are they going back to their first choice rather than return to the UK?

Red

We bought a property ( Turkish Deeds ) in Northern Cyprus, and loved it.

BUT, not being in the EU, health costs were very expensive, so we sold up, and moved on

hi mark as ive posted before coming in 2 wks to poss take out long rental do you advise a lawyer

It really depends how comfortable you are in understanding a rental agreement, and in negotiating changes as required. If you go though an agent, they will probably have a standard rental agreement. The landlord will probably make some changes to it - from experience, these aren't necessarily to skew it in their favour, but to turn it from a standard one into one relevant to the property in question.

I negotiated a rental agreement for someone, adding in break clauses for the tenant, and extending the agreement from 1 year to 3 years.

What are break clauses....Mark

The ability to break the lease under certain circumstances - eg

1. building work
2. serious illness meaning need to leave Malta

Mark,

Building work? is that the owner needing to some repairs to the property, or outside nuisance caused by large vehicles etc., etc.?

It might sound a stupid question, but those of us on this side of the ocean and hoping to become expats, have no idea.

Mark, your breadth of knowledge in respect of bad vibes and pit falls is immeasurable; with this in mind, would you please consider helping those of us who are testing the waters for the first time (so to speak), by listing on the RS board what first time tenants should look out for, what to add, and what to ask to be taken out of a LT lease?

Thank you in anticipation.

Red

Hi Red

Taking this discussion on to RS is a good idea, as some might want to bring up topics not suitable for a public forum - I'll do it now

Thank you Mark,

You're a star!

Red

A pleasure

Thread link as follows

http://www.britishexpat.com/expatforum/malta/viewtopic.php?p=52310#52310

gozomark wrote:The ability to break the lease under certain circumstances - eg 1. building work 2. serious illness meaning need to leave Malta

Number 1 on your list sounds fun, this would most likely be ONE week in residence, and a ONE week break, all year round

Number 2 on your list was on both our leases

Number 3 should be BARKING DOGS

I have read with considerable interest the comments within this post and take heed of many of them as they relate very closely to the Costa Blanca region of Spain where I currently reside...but maybe not for much longer as plans are afoot to relocate the business from Spain to Malta for corporate, commercial and personal reasons.

However, seven years ago when I first arrived in Spain it was 'the rose tinted' view (as previously described by a poster re Malta) with everything amazingly cheap in comparison to the UK and an amazing lifestyle to boot!

How things have changed... it is now becoming 'crime central' with everything from petty theft to drugs to murder (and very close to home, a local 61 year old Lady (of German origin) restraunt owner was cudgeoned to death last week whilst closing her premises. It is also a concrete jungle of unfinished, unsaleable properties (mostly now owned by default by the banks) and the cost of living has become horrendus... and worse is likely to come as the government decide upon austerity measures that will probably hit ex-pats harder than the locals...no surprises there really...

No, Spain will become a haven again I'm sure as it has all the natural ingedients but not I suspect for a further 4 or 5 years at least I reckon!

and having recently revisited and stayed for a while back in my property in the UK... I've realised that it also was no longer for me but most importantly, I have realised that the perfect place just does not exist, it really is a case of finding a place that ticks the most boxes and then adapt to it...after all it is unlikely to adapt to me!!!