I have Power of Attorney to deal with a similar situation in Freeport. An wellknown German Dentist bought a house in 1989 in Freeport to spend the rest of her days in the Bahamas, but she wasn't retired yet. Therefore she rented the house in Oct. 1994 to a Bahamian man, he was a that time a Pastor in a Church. The Pastor's friend and buddy, a famous Freeport Lawyer, made-up a Lease Agreement in favor of his friends, containing paragraphs, like:- "All questions or differences whatsoever which may at any time arise between the parties hereto concerning these presents or the subject matter thereof or arising out of or in relation thereto respectively and whether as to construction or otherwise upon which an agreement shall not be arrived at between the parties hereto shall be referred to a single arbitrator in Accordance with the Arbitration Act....." or:- "the Landlord by these presents hereby grants to the Tenant an Option to purchase de demised premises upon terms and conditios to e mutually agreed..." etc.
The German Lady, not speaking English at all, signed this lease agreement, not knowing what she was signing, but trusting her Lawyer.
In July 1996 the tenant stopped paying rent at all. In July 1997 the Lady hired and retained ($1,500.00) another Lawyer to get the tenant out to no avail. The Judge in Magistrate's Court told her: wrong jurisdiction", you have to go to Arbitration, you don't have the right to take your tenant to Court.
At that time I came into the picture and tried to help this Lady with her Power of Attorney to get her tenant out of her house.
I initiated new proceedings before another Judge, same result, the tenant still living in the house and not paying a dime.
In 2000 the tenant moved out of the house and left his wife behind who is not even a part of the lease-agreement, she doesn't pay either.
In February 2002 I initiated Arbitration proceedings, got a judgment agaist the occupier and served the Ruling at her place of work, a casino in Freeport, where she works as a cashier. As a result she turned around, send a letter to the same Judge to have me, acting now as Landlord, bound over to keep the peace, because I served her with the Ruling to get out of the house and pay 88,000.00 outstanding rent. Not enough, the occupier reported me to the Police, lying and stating, that I had stolen furniture out of HER garage and had done damage to HER property. As a result I was arrested, taken into custody, my house was searched (including my nightstands in my bedroom) for the stolen furniture. After being arrested for several hours I was able to prove that I had the tenant in Court and try to get her out of the house, the Police stated: "Ok, we drop the charges on Theft and damage, but we get you on trespassing." This case is still coming up.
In September 2002 I initiated proceedings in the Supreme Court in Freeport to have the occupier evicted from the house and enforce my Judgment against her and to put her in jail for being in Contempt of a Court Order. Because the Occupier did not show up in Court I got the Order to have her evicted and the other matter was adjourned. One week later the Occupier's Lawyer M.C. from Freeport went on an Ex-parte Application before the same Judge, who was then brandnew and unexperienced in Freeport, and was able to have all of my Court Orders overturned.
Well, the Occupier is still living in the house, still doesn't pay a cent, the night mare goes on and on and on.
This is Justice in the Bahamas, it stinks!!!!