Threshold

Rent has become one of the biggest stress points for families on St. Maarten, and not just because prices are high. A lot of the pressure comes from how hard it is to push back when something feels unfair. That is why MP Sjamira Roseburg’s amendment to Article 240 of the Rent Ordinance matters, even though it sounds like a dry legal change on paper.

Right now, the Rental Tribunal can only step in on disputes for properties valued at Xcg. 200,000 or less, a figure set decades ago. The problem is that the market moved on and the law did not. A huge chunk of today’s rental housing sits above that old threshold, meaning many tenants cannot use the Tribunal at all, and landlords do not get clear guidance from the one body designed to help keep things reasonable. When people are shut out of the Tribunal, the next step is often court, and most ordinary people do not have the time or money for that. So they either accept increases they cannot afford, or they move, or they end up in unstable housing situations that ripple into everything else.

Roseburg’s proposal raises the threshold to Xcg. 850,000. What that really means is simple: more renters and more landlords can actually use the Tribunal again. It brings the Tribunal back into the real rental market, where most disputes happen. It creates a middle option between staying quiet and going to court.

That has a direct link to cost of living. When rent climbs suddenly, it squeezes every other bill, groceries, electricity, school expenses, transport. If there is no realistic place to challenge a questionable increase or resolve a dispute, that squeeze becomes normal. The Tribunal is not there to “punish landlords.” It is there to settle issues before they turn into blowups. When it works, it lowers tension and helps prevent the kind of disputes that drag out for months and cost both sides money.

This amendment will not make rent cheap overnight, and it should not be sold like that. What it can do is give people a fair shot when they feel they are being pushed, and give landlords a clear process when tenants push back. It is a reset of a threshold that has been out of touch for too long.

Now the real test is what happens after. If Parliament expands the Tribunal’s reach by passing MP Roseburg's amendment, the Tribunal needs to be ready for the extra workload. It needs to be modernized, with use of social media and many have suggested that it needs an infusion of new blood. If cases take forever, people will lose faith and go right back to feeling stuck. Many people don't even know that the Tribunal exists.

If the Tribunal is staffed and supported properly, with clear timelines and simple guidance, this change could quickly become one of the more practical cost-of-living moves we have seen, useful, and rooted in real life.

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