Judge allows Egyptian student to enter his room again

The Egyptian student, who the local newspaper AD Utrechts Nieuwsblad calls by the fictitious name Chavi, rents one of the three rooms in a house in Rivierenwijk. On August 1, he couldn’t enter the house anymore because all locks had been changed. He was forced to crash into friends’ couches and sleep in hostels even though his rental contract was only set to expire in six months.

The landlord, Maurits (also a fictitious name) is a student too: he got the house from his parents. According to AD, Maurits claims to be a hospita (someone who rents a spare room in the same house where they live), which Chavi denies. Hospitas have the right to terminate a one-year contract before its due date, while landlords who live elsewhere do not. As evidence that Maurits does not live there, Chavi made several videos showing other people occupying the rooms. Maurits says he is not home much because Chavi makes him uncomfortable. 

In any case, the two don’t get along. Maurits told AD that he doesn’t appreciate Chavi putting personal belongings in a shared cupboard or hanging a Palestinian flag in the common area, for example. He also complains that the tenant doesn’t clean the house. 

Chavi finds the accusations exaggerated but agrees that things are too tense for him to remain in the house. Initially, the Egyptian student asked the judge to keep his room until February, as it’s hard to find a room in Utrecht on such short notice. However, during the hearing, he focused on financial compensation. The judge agreed that Maurits violated the law by changing the locks and that Chavi deserves compensation.