Housing Development Corporation (HDC) has condemned parties using social media to call on tenants of the Hiyaa flats to not pay their rents and fees. HDC made the remarks in a press statement following social media posts that claimed that tenants of Hiyaa flats are not liable to pay their fees as long as the board of the Hiyaa cooperative society remains vacant.
In a press statement, HDC stated that tenants are required under the agreement to pay their fees to HDC directly until the appointment of the board members. The company noted that tenants will incur most of the damages if they violate the agreement, and urged tenants to pay their fees on time. It added that it will submit complaints to the relevant authorities if it were to incur any damages due to its actions.
HDC began collecting rent and maintenance fees for the flats on April 1, as per the agreement signed by the tenants, after postponing rent collection three times. The agreement for the flats was signed with the owners of the flats in July last year. At the time, the government decided to start collecting rent after a period of three months for the finishing work of the flats. The government postponed the deadline until the end of October 2021. However, President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih extended the deadline until March 2022.
HDC has provided means by which tenants can pay rent easily via an online portal after logging in using their e-faas account. However, currently, only Bank of Maldives (BML) customers can make the payment through the online portal. Tenants can also pay their rent at the collection counter at the main office of the HDC using cash, cheques, or cards.