Deposit company tenants give landlords sleepless nights

Tamluk, May 6: People who have rented out their houses to money-mobilising companies in East Midnapore now want them to vacate, fearing demonstrations and damage of their property in the aftermath of the Saradha default. Civil engineer Gautam Das, whose five-storey building in Tamluk housed four such companies, said he had been urging them to move out for the past few weeks. “I had last year rented out my house to four companies —Unimass, Shilpayan, Dolphin and Silicon. Many people who have lost their money in the Saradha default have resorted to demonstrations and have ransacked offices. I am scared. If such protests happen at my building, property worth lakhs would be damaged. Such things are keeping me continuously tense,” said Das. The engineer said Unimass and Shilpayan had already moved out last month following repeated requests. He said each of the companies paid him Rs 8,000 a month. Das said the offices of Dolphin and Silicon were closed for the past week. “I don’t know what their intentions are.” Nandan Bera, the owner of a two-storey house in Chandipur which he has rented out to ATM Group and Modern Life, echoed Das. “The ATM group office was closed on Friday after agents and investors demonstrated outside my house. The company has not paid the rent for April. I can’t contact the officials as the cellphone numbers given to me are switched off. Modern Light is still open but I want the firm to vacate my house. The agreement with ATM expired in March this year and now I will not renew it. The deal with Modern Life is valid for another six months. I want the companies to go,” Bera said. In Contai, trader Aurobindo Das has rented the first floor of his two-storey building to Sunmarg Suraha Microfinance. The office closed down in January this year. “They did not pay me the rent for six months. After the Saradha default crisis, we called up the Sunmarg branch manager and told him that the company does not need to pay the rent due to us but that they should clear out of my house. They did so. Now, I am relieved,” said Aurobindo’s wife Pushpa. But Rangalal Das, who owns a five-storey building at Chaitanyapur on the outskirts of Haldia town and has rented out the first two floors to Rose Valley and Rahul Group, is yet to heave a sigh of relief. “The Rose Valley office is here for the past six years and the Rahul Group for two years. They are good tenants and have not defaulted on my rent so far. But, after an office of the ATM Group close to my house was ransacked on Friday, I am scared. I have contracts with both companies, which will expire only after three years. I am keeping a watch on the situation. But it’s better they leave as early as possible,” said Rangalal.