yesterday appealed for better protection for tenants.

Father-of-three Harold Crockwell said the dispute turned ugly when he returned home from the laundry last Friday.

He claimed he found the family furniture on the lawn, some of it damaged.

Mr. Crockwell and his wife, Roma, have been at the property off Bob's Valley Lane since November 15.

They initially agreed to pay $1,250-a-month rent. But a dispute has flared over when the rent was to be paid -- and the size of it.

The couple claimed the Rent Commission stated they should only be paying $750-a-month.

"I'm making a big fuss because I'm tired of this kind of thing happening,'' said Mr. Crockwell yesterday.

"Landlords have got to stop this and start doing things the right way or not at all.'' Last night The Royal Gazette was unable to contact the landlord, said to live in Somerset.

Mr. Crockwell is a truck driver for Gosling Bros, while his wife is a maid at Southampton Princess. Their children are Conroy, 19, Romel, 16 and 12-year-old Shaunelle.

The dispute was said to have blown up on December 2 amid claims the couple had not paid their rent on time.

Said Mr. Crockwell: "I pay my rent on time all the time. My job doesn't pay on the first of the month and I told my landlord it was difficult for me to pay at that time. I arranged to pay at the end of each month and he said he was agreeable to that.'' Mr. Crockwell said $1,250 was a steep rent for his family."On top of that we have elecricity and telephone bills.'' He added he later discoverd the rent should have been much lower.

"I tried to talk to my landlord but all he said was he wants his rent. I'm not going to give him some money, however, just to keep him quiet.

"I've sent him a letter, informing him he has got to go to the Rent Commission and sort out his situation.'' Mrs. Crockwell said: "We are trying our best to find somewhere else to go now to put all this behind us.''