A BERMUDA Housing Corporation (BHC) tenant whose porch has been taken over by drug dealers and prostitutes yesterday warned seniors against renting their homes to the quango, claiming that a lack of capable management has left the operation in disarray.

She said the mass exodus of high-ranking officials from the department less than a year ago had left it in the hands of military men who lacked the sensitivity and the know-how to run it efficiently.

And she insists that the scheme?s structure gives little consideration to those parties it was designed to help ? senior citizens and residents with low incomes.

?The BHC is bad,? she said. ?Government needs to take housing out of the hands of the BHC and give it to the Bermuda Land Development Corporation.

?The BHC is never going to get it right because the present management only understands military-style housing ? and that?s because it?s run by Major (Glenn) Brangman, (Minister of Public Safety and Housing) Colonel (David) Burch and (consultant) Major (Barrett) Dill.?

The quango launched Operation Helping Seniors with Rentable Units (OHSRU) last year. The programme?s aim was to find additional units to support the demand for affordable housing and to provide pensioners with a stress-free income.

As explained by the BHC last November: ?It has come to our attention that a number of you may have vacant, rentable units, but because of past unpleasant experiences with difficult tenants you have decided not to rent. This has deprived you of a source of income, which in times such as these would prove to be most helpful.

?By participating in this programme, you help the BHC and Bermuda by bringing back into service much needed affordable rental units, for which we would be most grateful.?

The BHC offered to act as a rental agent for seniors who agreed to the deal, promising to vet all potential tenants and replace any who later proved unsuitable. It also guaranteed monthly rent and gave its assurance that the interiors of properties would be maintained, with inspections conducted twice a year.

The services are provided free of charge.

Senator Burch did not respond to questions sent last week. However, he has publicly stated that the response from seniors ?has been extremely encouraging? and has hailed the scheme as a success.

Not so, claimed the disgruntled tenant in a property managed but not owned by the BHC.

She claims OHSRU is an extension of the scheme which successfully found her a home ? in an area rife with violence and other illicit behaviour.

The woman contends that the BHC programme is poorly administrated ? that her safety concerns have been ignored and, because she lives in an area known for outbreaks of violence and drug dealings, inspectors are delinquent in their visits.

?I don?t appreciate what they?ve done to me,? she stated. ?I (initially) told them it doesn?t matter where they put me. I was trying to work with the BHC.

?I trusted Housing when they housed me.

?But there are drug dealers on my doorstep, they put me in a tiny place where I can?t even fit a set of furniture.

?They only understand military-style accommodation because they?re used to dealing with the Regiment. It?s run too much by them.?

Major Brangman and Major Dill were hired after five key members of senior management at the BHC quit over a short period last year. BHC general manager Vance Campbell, the property operations, finance and support service managers and a projects officer, all handed in their resignations between February and April.

?What they need is a landlord / tenant court,? the woman suggested. ?The Rent Commissioner serves no purpose to me as a sub-tenant. I already know that as a sub-tenant you have no contact with the landlord.

?For anything to be done I have to go through the BHC and the BHC needs someone with sensitivity ? the people in charge now have none. There are too many people in the Regiment on the board of Housing.

?I do not understand why they?ve done nothing about my problem, which continues to exist.?

The scheme now in place offers neither protection nor stability to tenants, she maintained. And in cases such as hers, where inspectors are reluctant to make inspections because they are wary of the neighbourhood, it provides little comfort to landlords either.

?I want to say to the BHC leave landlords? property alone. I?m urging people not to take them up on it. The system is failing people big time. It has tenants moving every five minutes, I know of people who have taken their property back.

?I?m warning seniors not to give their houses to Government to rent. I?m warning people in need of housing not to rent houses in the back of town from the BHC ? they feed you to drugs and leave you.

?Keep your units to yourself. People have the right to choose their own landlord, they have the right to choose their own tenants.

?What the BHC is doing is putting tenants in places and not caring for them. That?s a bad story and so I?m advising people don?t take what their offering. (Government) knows all is not well at the BHC.

?They know all is very ill and they know I know it. It?s been a year since all the managers left and they?ve had none since.

?If Government wants to find a way to fix the rents, they could start in the back of town, with all the tiny places you can?t fit sets of furniture in for which you?re still charged an exorbitant rent.?