Czech residential hotel shuts off electricity and water, 15 Romani families seek injunction

Many of those families are Romani, which means the reason they have trouble accessing housing need not be just their lack of financing, but is also the low reputation of Romani people in society. If somebody offering a property to lease is able to choose from among 20 or 30 prospective tenants, it is highly likely that the Romani family will never be chosen for the accommodation in which they are interested.

Renters had no debts, but their leases were not extended

There are 15 families living in the residential hotel, about 60 individuals who had short-term, three-month leases that expired on 31 August. In the case of such facilities, short-term leases are nothing unusual – on the contrary, they tend to be the rule.

The preliminary agreement with Daniela Cimfeová, the owner of the residential hotel (which of course was never made in writing) was such that if no debts arose during the renters’ stay in the facility, their leases would be extended. The accommodated families were then faced with a fundamental problem when Cimfeová decided not to extend their leases even though no debts were owed by any of the renters.

“The renters have no debts. Not one of them. We can document this. The owner did not inform them in advance that she had decided to deal with this property differently and that she would not be extending their leases. The renters had no time to look for substitute housing,” Robert Kotlár, who has been empowered by the residential hotel occupants to represent them in the ongoing dispute, has explained to news server Romea.cz.

Owner shut off electricity and water

After the renters refused to move out, the owner took the drastic measure of shutting off their electricity and water. The Romani tenants then protested to the local authority in Větřní, but the mayor refused to address the situation, saying that the property is in private hands, that the town has no capacity to house the tenants elsewhere, and that responsibility for turning off the electricity and water lies with the owner.

In addition to Kotlár, who is the chair of the Aver Roma association, a helping hand was also extended to the families by Emil Voráč, director of the Khamoro public benefit corporation. “The situation of the Roma there was not easy, so I decided to arrange to lease an electric generator powered by gasoline for some time. The Roma were able to cook and light their homes. Of course, it was quite expensive to lease, so I was able to provide it to them for just a few days,” Voráč told Romea.cz.

The residential hotel tenants decided to file a motion for a preliminary injunction with the District Court in Český Krumlov through Kotlár. Should the court in Český Krumlov decide to accept their motion and then implement the injunction, the owner would then have to immediately remedy the situation by making electricity and water available to the tenants until a court proceedings rules on the legitimacy of the owner’s actions.

Financing, of course, became the stumbling block. If you want to file for an injunction with the court, you must deposit CZK 50,000 [EUR 2,000] with that body.

The renters were ultimately unable to put together that amount of money. In some cases, the court can waive this requirement.

The Český Krumlov court eventually did waive the deposit, but the renters lost more than two weeks of valuable time during the process. Currently they are waiting for the court to decide the case, which should happen within one week, according to the law.

Renters do not want to move away from Větřní

TV Nova has reported that the Český Krumlov Municipal Authority has inserted itself into the matter: “We have spoken with the people from that residential hotel and offered them opportunities. Here in Český Krumlov we also have residential hotels that are vacant, apartments in shelters and other options. Be that as it may, the families showed no interest in moving away from Větřní,” Český Krumlov’s spokesperson Petra Nestávalová told TV Nova.

News server Romea.cz tried contacting the owner of the residential hotel through the land line that is the only contact available for the LEKA DEM, s.r.o. company, of which Cimfeová is CEO and a co-owner. The company has no public email address or website.

Unfortunately, nobody ever answered the telephone at that number, and despite making multiple attempts, we did not manage to contact the owner. There is nothing left to do but wait for the court’s decision regarding the injunction.

From a long-term perspective, of course, even a development that is favorable in the case will not resolve the renters’ situation. The owner wants to close the facility – the rumor in Větřní is that she has received a very tempting offer to reconstruct the building to turn it into a nursing home for the elderly.

The renters, therefore, will never receive new leases from her. They have to realize this soon and address their future housing urgently, even though that is quite a difficult task.