A second tenant has come forward claiming he was abused by the same landlord who earlier this month burst into a tenant’s apartment and threatened to kill him.  

The man says he was abused by the same landlord who Times of Malta revealed earlier this week had entered the bedroom of tenant Aleksandar Vukoje while he was sleeping and threatened to “slit your throat”. 

Footage of a confrontation between the second tenant and the landlord a year ago shows the latter calling the man “bullshit”, telling him he would “eat” his lawyer and declaring “you can’t be calm with clients”. 

The man says the landlord raised his monthly rent twice within the space of a year – first by €50 and again by €200 – in violation of housing regulations and without informing the Housing Authority.  

The tenant had been living in the property for four years, when in September 2022 his landlord demanded he begin paying an additional €50 in rent, trade union Solidarjetà said in a statement.  

“However, in May 2023, the landlord illegally started demanding an additional rent of €200 per month from June 2023, not even one year after the previous rent increase and again not complying with the laws established by the Private Residential Leases Act”, the union said. 

It stressed that neither rent hike had been registered with the housing authority, with the tenant being notified in March of each year that his contract had been renewed at the same rent as prior to the increases.  

According to rent laws, a landlord may only increase the rent on a contract by up to 5% per year.

After informing the landlord personally and through his lawyer that the rent hikes were illegal, the tenant was confronted by the landlord – who the union said had entered the property without permission – outside his home.  

Video footage of the incident shows the landlord boasting about being a “multimillionaire” and that he would “bankrupt” the man if the issue went to court.

“Tell your lawyer I wipe my arse with him... you can’t be calm with clients... this is my property,” he can be heard saying.  

“Your lawyer, he think he scares me?... I eat him... I have a full-time lawyer; I can sleep in the court.” (sic) 

The landlord’s profanity-ridden verbal assault is reminiscent of a similar tirade launched against tenant Aleksandar Vukoje in a dispute over his rental agreement which came to a head earlier this month.

In video footage of the latest incident, the landlord can be heard threatening Vukoje, bragging about his wealth and telling him “I can bankrupt you”.

Vukoje, who is also being assisted by Solidarjetà, has been without power or water for more than a week after his landlord disconnected both supplies. 

Stressing that no police action had been taken against the landlord on either occasion, the union reiterated its demands earlier this week for Vukoje’s utilities to be reconnected, police commissioner Angelo Gafa ensure the police take “tenant issues seriously” and the Housing Authority to ban landlords with proven cases of past mistreatment.

In a Facebook post on Saturday afternoon, it called on concerned residents to join the union in solidarity with Vukoje in an action taking place Sunday morning.