deposit money after renting a house

[saresa]

Good afternoon everybody, We rented a house for 2 years , nothing is broken, rent and services always paid in time. The house is in a better condition after we moved out. We fixed the kreepy crawly over R1400, we put on a security gate at the back door, light switches were replaced, the pool pump was replaced and a new time was fitted - all these things at no cost or claim to the owner. the house was left in immaculate clean condition- the walls, cupboards, windows, floors super clean. we were only 3 people staying there with my daughter in boarding school so most of the time it was me and my husband. Now the deposit was paid back 10 days later and money for paint and labour deducted. however we contacted the people that is now renting the house and the confirmed THAT NO PAINTING HAS BEEN DONE IN THAT HOUSE BY THE AGENT. we moved out the Friday morning - they moved in the Friday afternoon. that Friday before we moved out the agent made no mention of any room that needs painting - in fact he was happy and I signed an exit report with NO MENTION OF PAINT NEEDED. we have sent him an e-mail which he prefers to ignore. what can be done to this person

[Hermes14]

Try and contact him through hello peter

http://hellopeter.com/

[Dave A]

Check if the agent is registered with the Estate Agency Affairs Board.

Whether registered or not, you could try filing a complaint with them. Their powers of inspection, audit and enforcement does seem to have become considerably stronger in recent times.

[Rafael]

Check if the agent is registered with the Estate Agency Affairs Board.

Dave is right, I would file a complaint with them as they do investigate each matter.

http://www.eaab.org.za/disciplinaries/how_to_lodge_a_complaint

I wouldn't bother with Hello Peter as most rental companies don't reply and to be honest, most people renting will still take a unit they like even though they have seen complaints on the agents as they think they will be the exception.

I was a rental agent 7 years ago, and it is terrible when you see how they screw clients over, charging R4000 to paint a small unit or R1000 to clean the floors.
Clients would then call me screaming even though there was nothing I could do, I left the industry after 8 months

Did they do an inspection with you when you left the property, which you signed for?

Next time take pictures of the unit when you move in and state everything on the inspection form that normally accompanies the lease agreement and get a copy of the signed lease agreement
Also don't leave leave everything for last minute as you end up just signing anything they give you so you can move into the unit

[HR Solutions]

Not cool at all.

[desA]

Par for the course, I'd expect.

The ethics in SA & the US are amazingly different. In the US, all expected expenses are take up-front as a non-refundable deposit - covers new carpets, cleaning, painting - at very nominal cost. In SA, the agents will filch every cent they think they can get away with. Renters beware!

[Pap_sak]

I am moving out one of my shops in a couple of months and will not pay the last months rent. He can keep the deposit. I think this is much easier than trying to get the deposit back.

[Rafael]

I am moving out one of my shops in a couple of months and will not pay the last months rent. He can keep the deposit. I think this is much easier than trying to get the deposit back.

What are the repercussions of doing such a thing?
Cant you be blacklisted?

[RyanR]

unfortunately you cannot claim for any of the improvements you did. if during the time you rented the house and made improvements without the landlord first approving them, you cannot unfortunately claim.
You can however make a claim with the Rental housing tribunal regarding unfair practice. for a little bit of reference please see the Rental housing act chapter 5:

http://www.info.gov.za/view/DownloadFileAction?id=70618

The tribunal will be able to help you and determine if the agent/landlord has constituted unfair practice.

hope this helps