This is what the entrance to the rented flat looked like in October when Nika told us a story of how she lived there with her three children and a dog, in the cold and darkness.

The entrance to the upper floor of the house was a dangerous, unfinished platform, that looked like stairs.It was extremely shaky, supported only by the lower windows. Nika asked the landlord to make the access safe and fix the stairs to be safe for her and her children, but nothing happened. Every day, this was the only dangerous route to the apartment, which she had to navigate with three children and a dog. According to their agreement, the landlord was supposed to arrange safe access and complete the apartment, but he failed to do so, although half of the rent was paid.

The problems began immediately after signing the contract and handing over the money to the landlord. He sent workers to the apartment, but they never finished their work. According to Nika, they had agreed that she would start paying half the rent once the condo was completed, while the municipality (if it still does, due to data protection, this was unclear) would pay the other half, as Nika was entitled to subsidized rent. However, months later, the apartment remained unfinished. Despite this, the landlord, Kokelj, still received half of the rent paid by the municipality, Nika said.

In addition to the unfinished, makeshift stairs, the front door didn’t work, the apartment had no electricity, and trash was strewn around the house. Inside the apartment, there was cold and darkness. Kokelj, angry that she hadn’t paid her half of the rent, cut the cables, even though he hadn’t fulfilled his obligation to finish the work. Nika had to buy a makeshift gas heater to keep warm, and at night, they used Christmas lights as illumination. Lights for the kids.

At the end of last year, the landlord refused to answer our questions, and his lawyer stated that if rent wasn’t paid, the landlord had the right to demand eviction.

And so it happened.

On November 29, around noon, Nika was surprised by a call from a man announcing her eviction. Because she was at work, he demanded to know when she’d be home so they could evict her. When she asked if he had a court order, he didn’t call back. Three hours later, she came home and saw the scene pictured below.

The landlord, Kokelj, had cut away the makeshift stairs leading to the apartment, leaving no alternative entrance. He also entered the apartment without her knowledge and put her dog out on the street, where it wandered the village. Nika said the dog could have been hit by a car. When Nika came home around 3 PM that Friday, she could only stand in silence, looking up at the upper floor from the yard. She couldn’t reach the entrance.

How alone a person can be in this country!

When asked what a mother with three children can do on a Friday afternoon when her landlord blocks her access to an apartment he never finished, there’s no answer. Talking about self-help hotlines and organizations funded by the state budget seems pointless because on a Friday afternoon, no one could help Nika find a safe place for herself and her children.

That day, Nika first called the social work center (CSD), but they couldn’t tell her what to do.

Building and housing inspection – NOTHING!

In November, we contacted the building inspectorate about the unfinished entrance to the house, and they wrote back:»This matter falls under the jurisdiction of the housing inspectorate since Article 93 of SZ-1 stipulates that if the condition of an apartment does not ensure normal use, the tenant may request the housing inspectorate to order the property owner to carry out necessary work to ensure normal use of the apartment or common areas.« When we contacted the housing inspectorate, they replied:» The housing inspectorate's jurisdiction is limited to ordering urgent maintenance work in individual or shared areas of multi-apartment buildings where condominium ownership is established. However, IRSS cannot assess alleged breaches of contractual obligations between the owner and tenant or act in cases where access to a rented apartment is denied. «

They further stated that Nika must address her case in court.

But on a Friday evening, November 29, no one thinks about relying on a process that will take months to resolve. She doesn’t have a lawyer’s number saved in her phone!?

Nika, left without any assistance, gathered the last of her strength, and asked a friend for help, spending the night at her place. The mental resilience required of a mother to handle her children’s distress and her own is hard to describe in words.

No Solution Yet

In the following days, she left her children with their father and stayed with her mother in a 40-square-meter rental. A solution for her family remains elusive. When looking for an apartment, landlords often reject her because of her children and dog, leaving most of her applications unsuccessful. She and her children’s belongings are still in the apartment she can no longer access. The court, where she sought help, is still deliberating on her case. What comes next, she doesn’t know. In her municipality, there are no available apartments for her and her children. She constantly monitors state housing announcements. Amid all the distress, she is grateful to have a reliable job and that she recently secured a safe means of transport. Her old and unreliable car had caused additional expenses in recent months.

Nika is waiting for the day when someone will tell her she has found a safe home, where she can live a peaceful and carefree life with her three children.

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(Translated with CHAT GPT)