A father-of-two is refusing to move out of his apartment unless his landlady pays him thousands of dollars he claims to be owed in overpaid rent.Michael Tucker has been asked to vacate the South Road, Warwick property by the end of this month but he insists he and his family will stay there rent-free until Maureen Eddy stumps up the money.Mrs Eddy, meanwhile, has complained to police about Mr Tucker’s behaviour and officers visited him to advise him to leave his landlady alone.Self-employed roof painter Mr Tucker told The Royal Gazette he’d been paying $2,400 a month for the two-bedroomed home since he, his wife and two children moved there in December 2008.But the 51-year-old claims a visit to the Rent Commission led to the chance discovery that the amount was too high and that the previous tenant was charged $850 a month.Landlords who own properties with annual rental values (ARV) of $27,000 or less must inform the Rent Commissioner if they want to increase the rent.Mr Tucker claims Mrs Eddy did not report the increased rent and believes he overpaid by $1,550 a month for 30 months or by a total of $46,500.If that’s correct, under the Rent Increases (Domestic Premises) Control Act 1978, he would only be able to recover overpayments for the last two years: a sum of $37,200.Mr Tucker said: “Many people used to say we were paying too much money for that place. The conditions were not suitable to the rent.“We took it as market value. We, at that time, were able to afford it for the most part. I went to the Rent Commissioner on another issue.“I found out that the landlady can be possibly overcharging me. The Rent Commission needed a few days to check their records. They contacted me and wanted me to bring in a lease and bank statements.“There was nothing on file at the Rent Commission [about Mr Tucker]. The previous tenant is still on file paying $850.”Mrs Eddy applied at the end of April to the Rent Commission for a determination on whether the premises rented by Mr Tucker were the same as those rented by the previous tenant.Rent Commissioner Eugene Foley wrote to her on May 20, in a letter copied to Mr Tucker, to say: “Having inspected the apartment and carefully considered the circumstances of it, we have determined that the apartment is substantially the same apartment previously subject to a tenancy, from the point of view of the rent which might reasonably be charged for it.”He suggested she apply for a rent increase or seek a mutual rent increase agreement with Mr Tucker.Mr Foley has since reassessed the dwelling and determined the rent ought to be $1,350 a month from July 1, according to Mr Tucker.He has been asked by Mrs Eddy to vacate the lower apartment by July 31 but says he’s not budging until he gets back the money he says he’s overpaid.The 1978 Act says a tenant who has overpaid is entitled to recover the excess from the landlord and may deduct the amount from rent payable by them to the landlord.Mr Tucker said police told him to stop calling and e-mailing his landlady about the overpaid rent. He denied he’d been harassing Mrs Eddy, adding: “I can’t be harassing her if I’m just asking to solve an issue because it has to be solved.”Mrs Eddy said the matter was being dealt with through the proper channels and she’d prefer any comment to come from the Rent Commissioner.Mr Foley could not be reached yesterday and police did not respond to a request for information by press time.The Land Valuation Department’s website lists the apartment as having an annual rental value of $18,600.Useful websites: www.rentcommission.gov.bm, www.landvaluation.bm