The tension is palpable for Martin Wallenburg, his girlfriend and their 12-year-old son. Due to a horrible combination of circumstances, an accumulation of official errors and a lost lawsuit, they have to leave their home on December 22nd. They have to live 500 meters away in another house, while moving is not possible for his girlfriend, both physically and mentally.
Family has to leave home for Christmas – Erik Boatsman
The municipality of Blaricum, doctors, Martin’s lawyer and even his girlfriend’s son’s school. They do everything they can to ensure that peace can return to the family by preventing a forced move. ‘Constraining appeals’, ‘letters’ and ‘pleasers’ have been received in large numbers by the Gooi & Omstreek housing association, but this is unrelenting. They adhere to the judge’s ruling: Martin has no right to the house and he must leave.
Martin fights like a lion for his family and grasps every straw to ensure that the family can finally find peace after years of misery. “I am desperate.”
Contract rejected
Martin’s story reads like a bad thriller. His mother died in January 2018, after which he became an informal caregiver for his then ill father. In 2019, when his marriage deteriorated, he moved in with his father. His father applies for ‘co-tenancy’ with the Gooi & Omstreek Housing Foundation (G&O) in Hilversum. The necessary documentation is sent, but the sick Wallenburg Sr. appears to have forgotten to submit the documents. The foundation does not sound the alarm and the contact person leaves G&O without transferring the file.
Wallenburg Sr. will die in 2022 from his condition COPD. After the death of his father, Martin tries to continue the lease on the house, but this is refused by the housing association.
Meanwhile, Martin gets a new girlfriend. She has also gone through a difficult period. He helps her financially and supports her in the aftermath of the benefits affair of which she is a victim and which has caused her a lot of debt. The corona pandemic and energy crisis make her situation even more difficult, leading to (stress) health problems for her and her son.
The lack of a formal rental agreement is not a priority for the family in that situation. “We were surviving,” Martin says of that time.
Accident
On June 23, 2023, the family was involved in a very serious traffic accident in France. Martin’s girlfriend sustains serious injuries, including multiple facial fractures and permanent blindness in her left eye. She also broke her neck in three places and uses a wheelchair.
At any moment she can be called for another operation, even though she actually has to pack boxes because she has to leave the house in a week and a half. Not only she, but also her 12-year-old son needs a stable home base. This is confirmed by the primary school in Hilversum where the boy goes to school. “He is now doing better again,” the school said. “A move and the tensions in the family surrounding it are not doing him any good.”
The municipality of Blaricum is aware of the situation and has tried to mediate and provide a helping hand, but so far the housing association has not offered a solution and is still insisting on a move.
The doctor of Martin’s girlfriend had a psychological report drawn up and sent it to the G&O housing association to make them aware of the seriousness of the situation. The report states: “Maintaining their current home address is essential for…
psychological well-being and overall health of Mrs.
The continuity of her treatment and the stability of her living situation are vital to her recovery. Her social network, including support from neighbors and acquaintances, is an integral part of her rehabilitation process.”
Boris Stalpers, Martin’s lawyer, is also very involved with his clients: “After an objection was declared well-founded, these people have been given a sense of urgency. Legally speaking, they have been awarded their assignment and there is nothing left to litigate. But they are given an sense of urgency.” only a right to a new home, they cannot force the housing association to let them stay in their current home. Therein lies the problem: from the psychologist and the advisory committee to the municipality; everyone recognizes that the situation is very dire , and that it would be better not to force these people to move.”
Incomprehensible
“Personally, I find it incomprehensible that the housing association, despite mediation by the municipality and despite all these reports from professionals, insists so much on a move. In fact, to a house three streets away, from the same housing association, while the urgency that these people have also makes them would allow them to respond to the house they are already in. None of this changes the fact that the housing association cannot be forced to let them stay; my clients can only hope for a human touch.”
Personally, I find it incomprehensible that the housing association insists so much on a move despite mediation by the municipality and despite all these reports from professionals.
Housing association
The Woonbond, the interest group for tenants in the Netherlands, also finds the situation very painful. “A landlord usually shows her ‘social face’ in these types of situations,” a spokesperson for the association said when asked. As a result, these types of rental disputes rarely occur. Only one other similar case has become known to the association this year. “It would be to the credit of Gooi & Omstreek if they would ensure that an eviction is not necessary.”
“Usually a landlord shows her ‘social face’ in these types of situations.”
The editors of NH Gooi have had extensive contact with housing association G&O, both in writing and by telephone. In our last email we asked why G&O is so insistent on moving the family to a home that is 500 meters further from the current home. Isn’t this lead to old iron? The spokesperson on behalf of the housing association gave us the following written response: “We are intensively working on this at G&O. We are in contact with both the residents and the municipality and the situation has our full attention.”