FCCC charges landlord for breaching tenant's rights

The Fijian Competition and Consumer Commission has confirmed that it has charged a landlord for unconscionable conduct after they illegally evicted Pramil Prasad’s family from their home in Tamavua last week.

Unconscionable conduct, or conduct that is unfair and oppressive, is illegal under section 76 of the FCCC Act.

However the tenant, Pramil Prasad says he is raising the question on why FCCC did not take any action from the time he filed the complaint in September as the threat to evict them was made by the landlord.

In a statement last night FCCC CEO, Joel Abraham says in September, a complaint was lodged against the landlord regarding non-issuance of receipts, failure to keep records and a threat of lockout.

FCCC has also provided some photos of the staff talking to Prasad.

Abraham says it is regrettable that while they were still investigating, the landlord decided to take the law into their own hands, and executed an illegal eviction using force.

He says the landlord did not obtain a court order, which is a legal requirement for eviction and illegally removed the tenant's belongings from the premises.

Abraham says it is appalling that people are behaving with this degree of hostility with no regard for the law.

He says an alleged assault also took place which was referred to the Fiji Police Force.

Abraham urges landlords against acting unconscionably and to show compassion, especially during these hard times.

The FCCC CEO thanked the efforts of the Legal Aid Commission Fiji and the Fiji Human Rights And Anti-Discrimination Commission for also assisting the family, in particular, Legal Aid's efforts in putting the family back in their home.

However, Pramil Prasad says he had been taking his plight to the Fijian Competition and Consumer Commission since September. He says no action was taken until he took up the matter with the Attorney General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum on the afternoon of the eviction.

Prasad says he is grateful for the assistance provided by the Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Commission and Legal Aid Commission and the Department of Social Welfare.

Fijivillage has asked the FCCC CEO how they deal with a threat to evict as that can eventually lead to eviction.

We have also asked what action was taken by FCCC after the complaint was filed in September and how long did it take to investigate the landlord.

The initial comment is that they cannot comment on ongoing investigations.

[Photo: FCCC]