If there’s a conflictive and traumatic second in renting a house, it’s the return of the deposit. The majority of tenants report that their landlords have stored this sum of money with out justification, with excuses that haven’t any authorized help. These pretexts vary from the most typical, equivalent to portray and cleansing the whole home, to probably the most unlikely, equivalent to claiming harm to the drawer of a siphonier that the tenant herself purchased.
Nuria Rodríguez, affiliated with the Madrid Tenants Union, tells how the proprietor of the residence the place she rented in Madrid, whom she thought-about “the best landlord in the world”, grew to become “a scoundrel”. The proprietor, who withheld about 1,300 euros in deposit and assure, claimed from Rodríguez, in response to his personal account, furnishings that didn’t exist, a dishwasher that by no means labored and that he used to retailer pots, holes within the tiles, cleansing underneath the fridge… “He was left with 400 euros for an apartment that he had left in good condition,” he considers.
The expertise was not good for Sandra Mora both. “My roommates and I got into a big battle with the owner because he had kept 2,200 euros; It was invented that things were missing from an inventory that I never saw and that there were several breakdowns that did not exist. He did a mental account and was left with 500 euros for his face,” he says.
Although it’s taken as a right that there are moral and authorized landlords, appropriating the deposit on the finish of the rental contract has turn into an more and more widespread observe, a sort of perverse custom through which tenants often have the higher hand. lose. “At this point, he is totally unprotected and defenseless because, in addition, he rarely takes the precaution of taking photos and videos of the state of the house. Although the Urban Leasing Law (LAU) preaches that it protects the weakest party, on the issue of bail it is not true,” explains Emilio Rojas, lawyer on the legislation agency that bears the identical title.
Furthermore, “many contracts are mediated by real estate agencies that look after the interests of the owners,” says Javier Rubio, lawyer and authorized director of the Center for Consulting and Social Studies (Caes), a agency specialised in leases. And they add: “There is no incentive for the landlord to return it beyond good faith.”
And it is not simply concerning the deposit, however in lots of circumstances in addition they preserve the double assure (equal to 2 months’ lease) that the LAU permits, says Álvaro Bermejo, founding companion of the Bermejo Abogados legislation agency. “Landlords are predisposed to greatly inflate the damage to unjustifiably retain that money,” the lawyer provides.
It is quite common for the owner to allege the necessity to paint, clear, slash flooring, repair doorways that don’t shut, scratched ceramic hobs, worn locks and knobs… However, these damages can’t be attributed to the tenant, besides when there may be apparent negligence, as a result of They are a part of the traditional use of the house. There is jurisprudence that signifies this. “You cannot pretend that the home is in the same state, as if a person had not lived there for five years. A hole in the wall to hang a painting or a small mark on the floor are inherent to renting a home,” they are saying in Caes. This workplace offers grotesque excuses from some landlords, equivalent to not returning the deposit as a result of there was a canine in the home, when it was unsure. Or low cost the 1,500 euro restore of a porcelain ceiling lamp valued at 6,000 euros. “It has been moved from the site and replaced (contrary to the contract),” states a landlord’s harm settlement.
It can also be widespread to accuse the tenant of the deterioration of the boiler and the harm attributable to humidity or leaks. “They say it is because it has not ventilated, but they are caused by the structural elements of the house and not by negligence of the tenant,” says Rojas.
However, there are some the reason why it’s justified to deduct half or the entire deposit. “When there is negligence or misuse of the elements of the home,” explains Bermejo. That is, “if there is damage proven by the negligence of the tenant, which has been quantified by the respective invoice and that the cost is for repair and not replacement, since otherwise the depreciation of the furniture would be charged to the tenant”, says Rubio.
30 day interval
When the contract ends, on the time the keys are handed over, the owner has 30 days to return the deposit. Lawyers advise doing a joint inspection of the home and writing down an inventory of doable damages within the contract termination annex. The tenant can signal his settlement or not and combat the deposit.
The first step is to attempt to negotiate. The second is to ship a burofax. “In our office, after the burofax, half of the landlords return the deposit and the other half do not,” they level out at Emilio Rojas Abogados. If the owner doesn’t listen or ignores it, a civil lawsuit for restitution of the deposit may be filed. If the quantity is lower than 2,000 euros, a lawyer or lawyer isn’t mandatory.
Most of those issues usually are not prosecuted, particularly when small quantities are concerned. However, “more and more tenants are complaining not only for the recovery of amounts, but also for a feeling of injustice. We perceive that there is a desire not to be victims of blatant abuse,” says Rubio.
The Madrid Tenants Union advises negotiating to attempt to steadiness the steadiness a little bit as a result of they consider that the process for returning the deposit is unbalanced in favor of the landlords. “In addition to the fact that you have to wait 30 days for them to return it, we clearly depend on whether they want to do it or not.” The Barcelona Tenants Union says that, as soon as they intervene, the vast majority of landlords return the deposit. “They know it’s not justified, but they think if it works, it works,” they are saying. The second route they suggest is judicial.
To keep away from regrets, it’s essential to rigorously learn the rental contract that’s signed initially. “Tenants usually sign without looking at the rental contract in which a standard clause appears that says that the home is delivered in good condition, when it is most likely that the owner has not made a renovation or repair in years,” recommends Rojas. . The lawyer advises that the contract embody a clause that states that the residence is delivered as a sure physique, that’s, as it’s, and connect pictures of the house.
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