Landlords

The spirit of Rackman and Rigsby is not dead here in Belgium.

I have discovered that my cleaning lady, 'Madame Soleil' has had no running hot water for 3 years - yes you read that right- 3 years. She has 4 children in one bedroom , ranging from 4 to 18 (trying to study for exams) There is mold on the wall.

She needs a reference from her landlord to get her next place and is afraid to make trouble by complaining in case he writes a bad one, scuppering her chances. All her rental payments have been on time and she has bank documents to prove it.

She tried to get a new house last week but the private landlord decided not to let her have it. As Madame Soleil's referee I tried to speak to this person who strangely enough talked in english at the start of our conversation, but who then mysteriously appeared to have only french by the end and was rambling once they discovered I also speak french. The house would have suited the Soleils perfectly there are enough rooms and a small garden for their small boy to let off steam in.

They have been on the housing list for 6 years already, and are registered in Belgium. My friend would like to stay in Brussels to give her children the chance to acquire both french and dutch.She is now caught in a trap; her husband has irregular work from Interim and can only produce 2 consecutive required wage slips for the social housing department, who she was told wanted 3 consecutive slips - Thus she was moved to the bottom of the list.(This part confuses me so I am damn sure it confuses them).


I wonder if you can guess the colour of my friend's skin?


Until Next Time - Yours In A Flemish Field