This is the post you need to read if you want your deposit back when you leave the leased property in Spain.
Reuters Solicitors give you the clues in order to get the refund of the deposit.
Deposit back from the landlord
When and how you can claim the deposit back when you leave the property?
When a tenant rents a flat, he is obliged to give a month’s rent to his landlord as a deposit. This is what Ley de Arrendamientos Urbanos (LAU) of 1994 says in its article 36.1: «When the contract is signed, the requirement and provision of a deposit in cash in an amount equivalent to one month rent in the lease of houses and two month rent in leasing for a different use than housing. «
Article 36.2 also says: «During the first three years of the contract, the deposit will not be subject to updating. But each time the lease is extended, the landlord may demand that the deposit be increased, or the tenant that it decreases, until it becomes equal to one or two instalments of the current rent, as appropriate, at the time of the extension. «
At the time of leaving the rental property, the landlord must return the deposit given by the tenant and can only discount the outstanding debts: rents, the compensation stipulated in the contract if you leave it early, supplies and repair of damages that corresponds to pay the tenant. Of course, each amount that is deducted from the deposit must be perfectly justified with an invoice.
If a month goes by and the landlord has not returned deposit without any cause or excuse then the tenant can claim the deposit and his legal interests.
How much can be discount from the deposit?
1.- Unpaid Rents
If the tenant has stopped paying a month or part of a month, the landlord can collect the deposit. Of course, you must justify it.
2.- Agreed compensations if you leave the rental property before the end of the contract.
After six months of rent, the tenant can leave the rented flat at any time as long as he notifies the landlord with at least 30 days. However, there are cases where it has been agreed in the rental contract that the tenant will indemnify the landlord if he leaves the apartment prematurely and that compensation must comply with the provisions of the LAU in article 11:
«The tenant may withdraw from the lease, once six months have elapsed at least, as long as you notify the landlord at least thirty days in advance. The parties may agree in the contract that, in the case of withdrawal, the tenant must compensate the landlord with an amount equivalent to one month’s rent in force for each year of the contract remaining to be fulfilled. The periods of time inferior to the year will give rise to the proportional part of the compensation. «
Therefore, the landlord can demand compensation and collect the deposit if the tenant leaves the apartment prematurely, but to do so must have included the clause of dismissal and compensation in the rental agreement and collect it as stipulated by the LAU.
3.- Pending supplies
Generally, when a tenant leaves his apartment for rent he does not have time to pay all the household supplies (water, electricity, gas …) so, in many cases the landlord stays with the deposit to pay the last invoices of supplies and then return what is left over to the tenant. Another option is for the tenant to pay directly for the supplies (i.e. if he/she has a direct orders in his/her bank account), so the landlord delivers the deposit to the tenant the same day of the delivery of the keys if there is no other outstanding debt and the landlord would make the change of the utilities afterwards.
4.- Damages at the rental property
If the tenant has broken something in the rented flat should repair it or bear the cost of repair. If it is not repaired, the landlord can deduct it from the deposit as long as he accompanies the corresponding invoice. However, the questions are:
- What should be paid by the tenant? The answer is in article 21.4 of the LAU of 1994 when says: «The small repairs due to the ordinary use of the house will be the responsibility of the tenant.» So it is understood that if the tenant has been living on the property for some time and small repairs arise precisely because of the use of the house, he must assume the cost of these repairs. And, of course, if he breaks or damages the property he must also pay for it.
- And what should be paid by the landlord? He must take care of all the works that are necessary to do to maintain the habitability of the house.
Just to point out two issues:
- Painting: If a tenant has been living for several years on the property it is understood that there must have been a wear and tear on the paint and it is the landlord who must repaint the house for the next tenant. But if the tenant has damaged a wall (i.e. when placing furniture), then it should be the tenant who is responsible for the repair. Moreover, if the tenant decides to change the colour of the house paint without having the permission of the landlord, then the landlord may require the tenant to repaint it with its original colour or charge him the new paint.
- Cleaning: the tenant must return the house as it was delivered, but this point is difficult to argue if there is no evidence … Ideally, the rental agreement should include photographs of the state of the apartment when it is delivered in order to certify its cleaning and demand the return in the same state.
How we can ask for the deposit back?
It is important to sign the “documento de fin de alquiler” (document similar to a contract where it is said that the tenant hands over the apartment keys).
The document should indicate the termination of the rental agreement between both parties (landlord and tenant) and how the return of the deposit is made and any other additional security that may have been agreed.
If the deposit is not returned, you must indicate why and when it will be returned. The same happens with the additional guarantee, if any have been agreed.
Normally the landlords ask for two months of ‘deposit’, but legally they are not two months of deposit, it is a month of deposit and the other one is considered an additional guarantee.
In the case that these two months have been delivered, the end of contract document must detail if they are returned in the same act of handing over the keys of the apartment and, if something is discounted, it must indicate how much, why and attach the corresponding invoice.
If it is not returned on the day of the delivery of the keys, it must be indicated why it is not returned that day, when it will be returned, how and, of course, accompany everything that is deducted with the corresponding invoice.The end of rental document must be dated and signed by both parties.
What happens if you do not receive the deposit?
If the landlord refuses to return the deposit, the tenant must demand that he explain why and that he justifies each expense he deducts from the deposit with his corresponding invoices. If this justification does not convince the tenant then he can go to the Courts to claim his money through a Lawsuit.
Do not hesitate to contact us for more information:
https://www.reuterssolicitors.com/contact-us/
Related Posts
If you want to know more about THE PROCESS OF CLAIMING THE DEPOSIT, please follow:
If you want to know more about RENT INCREASE, please follow:
REUTERS SOLICITORS can help you with this matter. Do not hesitate to contact us for more information.
Hi!
I have a big problem. I recently moved house and now my previous landlord won’t give the deposit back. Its 2500 euros (1 months rent) We have 3 kids and some things were broken so I didn’t expect to get it all back but I didn’t think she would keep all of it. The biggest problem seems to be the leather sofas. She says they are worth 3,800 euros each and they have some small stains and cat scratches and claims this cannot be repaired which is why she will be keeping all of the deposit. Can she really do this? Thanks
Hi Carolina,
Thank you for contacting Reuters Solicitors.
Reuters Solicitors has contacted you by email. We have replied all your questions.
Good morning,
I have a problem with a letting agency – Rightplace, they have deducted almost €1000 for works to the property which we are contesting. We noticed a small problem with damp on two exterior walls and a ceiling and notified them immediately. They did not send a maintenance person for a month despite our repeated requests and even after this we were not told how to deal with the problem. We left a month later and requested that our deposit be returned but they said the problem was due to lack of ventilation and we were to be charged for repainting. We were only at the property for three and a half months. We have been unfairly charged for other things (missing tableware – not true, small stain on sofa, extra cleaning) but this is the main issue.
Thanks for any advice you can provide.
Dear K Ny,
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Hi!
We have recieved out deposit back. However, our old landlord has ocntacted us after 18 days of moving out after reinspecting the flat and is now asking us about damage to flooring (which I believe to not be our fualt – the flat is old and had mould on the walls when we moved in)
Are we liable to pay for repairs now we´ve moved out and had our deposit refunded already. Any advice?
Thanks
Dear David,
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Hi, I have just left my old 4 month rental apartment and when I checked out and met the agent (some dodgy Polish woman working on behalf of some eastern European owner) she told me she would return the deposit less the electricity bills by the end of the month. Then later that evening she sent me an email saying she was now keeping my entire deposit of 700 euros and made some long list of lies and complaints and charging me for new washing machine etc which was replaced during my stay but only because it was old and knackered and well past its sell by date etc. Im pretty sure the agent and owner are dealing with illegal rental contracts in order to avoid paying taxes in Spain and would like to know what I can do to apply some pressure on them to return my deposit as verbally agreed ?
Hi Steve,
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Hi, we just got screwed the same way, all our deposit has been withdrawn by the landlord without plausable reasons. Of course replacing her old refrigerator which eventually stopped working with our money is not a legitimate way of doing business.
Thank you much!
Hi, we’ve experienced the same behaviour from our Landlord who decided to withdraw all our deposit. Old refrigerator which eventually got broken during our stay has been replaced with our Deposit after we left the flat, nice side business. For the rest of the money as well no logical arguments.
Please advise us in handling this issue.
Thank you!
Dear Itsvan,
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I have left my apartment over a year and a half ago and the landlord refuses to pay the deposit back. She made an attempt about a year ago but my bank details have changed. after providing the new details she refused to transfer the money to my account.
I saw that there is a legal interest she has to pay if she did not pay after a month what is the interest rate.
What would she has to pay after not paying about 1100 euros of deposit after 1.5 years.
I want to reach out to her with more info to show her if she doesn’t pay she will have to pay a lot more if we take legal action but it would be great to know the interest rate to give exact details.
Thanks
Jonas
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Hi,
I am in a strange situation where I recently moved to a 3 bedroom apartment and my boyfriend and I (foreigners) we are just renting one of the rooms and the other rooms are occupied. We have been asking the agent(which I personally don’t believe she is the agent but the property owners) for a contract for 8-9 days now and she keeps saying tomorrow or she doesn’t reply back to the messages. She says she needs a copy of our passport and now she says we need to go somewhere like a registrations office to do the paperwork. I’m very confused to why she needs a passport and why we would need to go to a place to register when from my understanding all you need is a detailed contract signed by both parties. Is their any advice for this scenario?
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Hii
I have rented an apartment.
And I had a fire damage.
How do I handle this?
Can I be charge for more than my deposit? Because some of the cabinet need to be replaced or repaired/repainted again.
It’s more because I’m afraid of the landlord will charge me for more than just the repairing of this 3 cabinets.
Rest of it is fine and it’s just a not painting it needs.
Kind regards
Dear C Denmark,
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Hey, my landlord asks me to pay for all the damages in the kitchen which is about 20 years old (i lived there only for a year, but I have not make a pictures of the original state) it was very obvious for me that it is old and damaged, but I assumed it is clear to him. Now he is talking about charging me over 500eur for that and I think it will be even more.. He has shown me original pictures which must be years old. Anything I can do at this stage?
Dear Henrieta,
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HI Jonas
We are in the same situation. I can see that Reuters has replied to you privately. Could you share with us how much interest we can charge the landlord for this?
Hi!
I have problems with the residence that I have been living in Madrid. They were supposed to return my security deposit of 800 euro (2 months rent) in full cause nothing was broken. But it’s been almost 4 months now and we still don’t have our money back. We are from another country so they correspond with us by email. They don’t always respond, but when they do they come up with excuses such as ‘we have been changing our computer system’ or demand us to give them a European bank account which we don’t have. I assume that they already have to pay us some interest rate. And it would be great to show them that we are serios about getting our money back and know the law. And how can we resolve this problem from abroad?
Dear Valeria,
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My tenants have left my house dirty. The contract states no dogs in the house or on furniture but my new hand made sofa was left full of dog hair and stinks.I don’t want to sit on it again. Can I keep the deposit to buy a new sofa?
Dear Deborah,
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Regards
Hi,
My daughter is having a similar problem. She was renting an apartment for about seven months in Madrid and when the contract ended and she moved out the landlord deducted €500 from the deposit for things like condensation in the water pipes and loose power plugs for example. My daughter has no idea what this is about as there was absolutely no damages done to the apartment and when she handed the keys back, the landlord didn’t say there was anything wrong. When we queried these charges and asked the landlord for invoices for the repairs done, the landlord just sent us a rude email and told us the conversation is terminated. I think the landlord is just taking advantage because my daughter is a student, she is not fluent in Spanish and we don’t live in Spain. According to the rental contract that my daughter signed, the landlord was only allowed to deduct €135 for the cleaning of the apartment. Can you give us any advice on what we can do?
Dear Ricardo,
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Hi,
I recently rented an apartment in Spain. We didn’t take pictures of the place before leaving, but instead invited the landlord over the day before leaving to check inventory and what he thought of the apartment.
We got charged 150 euro for cleaning, another small amount for plumbing (a problem that always was there) and for insurance costs (which the landlord took out on his own property and we were not informed about).
We had the place cleaned from top to bottom with cleaning products in the washing areas, oven, microwave, shelves, floor, under/inside furniture etc.
Bottom line 260 euro from 850. Is this worth chasing?
Regards,
All seemed well until he deducted before sending back the rent by the way.
Dear Louis,
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Hi!
We also have a problem of getting our deposit back.
It has been two months now since we moved out at a place in Barcelona, before and straight after the move I asked various times (via WhatsApp) if any arrangements need to be done like: meter readings, signing or anything else. I did not get a straight answer and a few days later the owner is on a 3 week holiday and delegated this to another person. This person avoided also the same question. So we could not do a formal check with ‘documento de fin de alquiler’.
I kept paying for the utilities bills up to 3+ weeks after we moved out. After this was stopped, the electricity company cut the electricity and the owner is blaming us for that. Then a month and a half later, the owner comes with a 800 EUR estimate for a painter coming in, a video that it has not been cleaned properly and a broken bed and sofa parts he is looking to replace. Probably pending more EUR estimates. It is taking a long time now and we wonder what we can do to avoid the owner taking as much as possible from the deposit?
I am looking forward to your response,
Thank you,
Dear Aequita,
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Hi!
Like many of the other commenters I’m struggling to get my deposit back as is agreed in the contract.
I spent 5 months in valencia and was promised to get back immediately half of the 600€ deposit I paid.
After 2 weeks I still haven’t gotten back anything and it seems like my messages and Emails are being ignored.
The owner of the agency already tried to intimidate multiple times before the contract ended just to get his way.
I just want to get half of my deposit and most of the other half back which supposedly is used for paying the bills.
I am looking forward to getting a response from you.
Dear Michael,
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Hello!
I moved out of a rented apartment in Barcelona 3 weeks ago. I had signed a contract of entering the apartment with indicated dates of staying and indicated deposit amount of 740 EUR which I payed the day I arrived. Two weeks before leaving the apartment, I tried to get some information about when I will receive the deposit back and who is in charge of paying it, but I barely got the landlord to tell me that they will contact me in 15 days after leaving the apartment. When we entered the apartment in the first place it was not sparkling clean, it had dirty bed sheets and a worn out towel. I didn’t use bed sheets or the towel at all and I cleaned it extensively on the day of moving out and left it clean. Now she’s trying to charge me for 470 EUR worth of replacement bed sheets, towels and cleaning bills which is ridiculous for a small 20 square meter apartment which had been extensively cleaned. She is also trying to do the same to my neighbor, but charging him 700 EUR instead (he did left it a bit dirty, but 700 EUR is a lot of money for a small apartment). We also have her confirming through email that the apartment was not entirely clean on the day of entering, we have some pictures of the state of the apartment before (my neighbor does) and after (both of us do). Do you have any recommendations on what to do?
Thank you very much in advance!
Best regards
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Hello,
I am Katarina’s neighbor in this situation, she moved out about three days before me. The landlord is keeping my whole deposit of 700 euro as Katarina is saying. Could you please also contact me so I can consider my options with you? Best regards,
//Ludvig Janiuk
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Hello,
I have rented a flat for about 2 years and notified the agency in advance about contract termination.
3 days before leaving the flat, I invited the agency representative to check the appartment and agree on the condition of walls/floor/appliances, if anything should be fixed or painted.
During the meeting, I offer the rep to keep several shelves in the walls (we installed them earlier and offered them free of charge). We have also come up with the list of things that have to be painted/cleaned. As a result, we cleaned the whole flat – some walls were painted, some walls we washed, etc.
On the day of contract termiantion, the agency rep checked the flat and accepted it confirming there are no issues with it; the keys were delivered to the rep on the same day.
After a week, the rep said the flat owner is not happy how the walls are painted/washed and they should invite the painter to repaint them. We asked whether we can come to see what exactly was wrong, but we were refused.
As a result, the rep wants to withhold the price of painting from the deposit (1650 eur deposited, about 950 eur are the alleged costs of painting). According to the contract, we have to paint the living room (which we did) and clean the rest of the apartment.
What is the best way to continue here? We refused to confirm the costs of the painting to the agency rep, but she does not seem to care..
thank you very much!
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Hello
We rented an apartment in Jávea through an agency (New Homes Jávea). The landlady lives in Bilbao. Francesca, from New Homes Jávea has always been very good and we have had no problems – until now. We had to pay two months’ deposit (13,000 euros) though I have heard this is illegal (?) and we stayed for 8 months.
We left on 31st May and Francesca came and checked that all was good with the (fully furnished) flat. We left it spotless, with no problems except a lamp we had broken but mended. Francesca said that was fine. By 1 August we still had not been refunded our deposit.
Francesca has been very apologetic but says there is nothing they can do… it’s the landlady (Mercedes) and her daughter who are lying and keeping the deposit. When I threatened to take legal action against Mercedes, she said she had sent the deposit and kept lying that she had sent it. Four days later, we received an electronic payment of 575 euros. We know we left the flat in pristine condition. Francesca at the agency confirms this. Is there anything we can do to make this dishonest woman repay us what is due, without incurring large legal bills? Also, is there not more that the agency could do to help us? Thank you in advance for your help.
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I had the same thing happen to me with the same agency: 2 months rent +
Dear Anna,
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Hi,
I moved out of an apartment in Madrid on July 1st, we told the landlord on June 10th, that we would be leaving. We gave her less than 30 days notice, she said she would speak with the agency about what would happen, that we might lose our deposit etc.
It was decided by her and the agency to not keep our deposit and return it to us. For 36 days now we have been in contact with her and she has said numerous times by email that she would return the deposit minus bills owed. We agreed to these terms, and on Sunday (August 4th) she emailed letting us know she was returning our deposit.
Today (August 6th), she decided to tell us that she was keeping our deposit and that we owed any outstanding bills in addition to it, because she spoke with the agency and they told her that it was within her rights to keep it. It has been 36 days, the agency told us the day I returned the keys that she had 30 to return the deposit, not once during the 36 days did she say she would keep it. We were told by the agency specifically, before we moved out, that she would return the deposit to us and that she declined to withhold it.
What should we do?
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Hi, my landlord is being really rude. And is trying to make me leave the apartment before the end of my contract. They are very shady and threatening. I would like to leave but i want to get my 300 euro deposit back.
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I rented a studio from late August 2018 to December 31, 2018. The company is Student Global Relocation in Madrid, Spain. As of today, the deposit has not been returned. I have been in contact with SGR since January 2019 and they are not cooperating in this situation. The company responds with, » We will look into this and get back to you.» This is just simply unacceptable and frustrating. Its been almost a year (today is October 9th, 2019) and this matter has not been resolved.
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Hello! We moved out of a house on September 20. We were asked to take meter readings so they could deduct the balance on electricity and water. After that we heard nothing. We sent a message on October 1 asking for an update on the deposit. We were told that they would do the readings asap and let us know. We heard nothing after that. On October 23rd, we sent a message asking again for an update. No response. On October 31, we asked again for an update. Then we were told that they have an issue getting a bill reading and that Endesa shows the house has not being on their books. They said they are having problems with Endesa and this is the cause for the delay and that they would get back to us. Then we heard nothing. Today is November 7 and we still have heard nothing. What should we do in this issue? It is now more than a month and they are TERRIBLE with communication. It is annoying because a few times when they did not receive their rent on the first day of the month, they would message us right away (even though the contract says the rent is to be paid within the first 5 days.) We lived in their house with a broken toilet that they tried to fix once and it didn’t work. They had a beautiful bathtub that NEVER worked and we never were able to use it. Any time we would message them about getting things fixed they would never message us back. But when it came to getting their rent on the first day of the month (which wasn’t what the contract said) they were very eager to correspond. Now we are trying to get our deposit back and they are being grossly negligent and non-responsive. What can we do now, should we seek legal action? We are out of country and fear that they will keep doing this until we give up. It is two months deposit. We left at the end of the first year but we gave them 3 months notice so we did not break the contract. We also lived in a house with a broken toilet and tub and we have said nothing. Please advise!!
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Hello,
My partner and I rented a room for 700 euros in Madrid and he moved in before me since I was waiting for my visa (we are both international students). He signed the contract and the landlord told him that I can sign it once I arrive. A month later when the rent is due the landlord sends over a new contract and we realized after reading it that he is charging us 100 euros extra saying that now we are two people so the price increases when in the beginning there was no mention of this. We confronted him about this and decided to leave since it was too much and now he is withholding our deposit from us. He claims he has to take money out of the deposit for various things but is not giving us a proper account of what. We have never even seen the bills for electricity, gas, water etc, which were not included in the rent. How do we get our deposit back? Please could you help us?
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Hello,
I am staying in a room now and renewing my 6 months contract for another 6 months.
My landlord wants to raise the deposit considering he is raising the rent, can he do that?
Also, he bought me a new mattress when i moved in, and now he is saying that i ruined it (which i agree that my cats did) and he wants me to pay him the price of it as extra money away from the deposit money even though i am not moving out yet, can he do that?
Isnt the deposit money to repair after i leave?
Can I legally decline to pay for a mattress that i am fine with using as it only has some threads that the cats have scratches and he wont buy a new mattress until i move out? Thank you
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Hello,
I left the flat on 31.1.2020. We agreed with owner that I will not pay for this month and he will decrease deposit for these money. So at that they we signed the end of contract and there is written that we will give is deposit back in cost of 1700 euros until 1.3.2020, also he said he will changed the bills of electricity, water and gas from my bank account to his. Its already.
Now its March already and I was already charged during February for water, electricity and gas (gas was not in flat already from November 2019 after they changed water heater for elecitrical one). I also didnt get money from deposit back.
So in general I dont have deposit and my bank account is still charged for bills. Owner is not answering on whatsapp even I can see that he got message and read it.
Any advice ?
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Hi, my estate agent is claiming I have had someone living with me since September 2019, which is a breach of contract, but I have not and there is no evidence to suggest this. They blame the high electricity and water bills on me as a result and are threatening to terminate my contract. I have not even been living in the flat for most of December and almost all of January, furthermore, I have been travelling a lot and during 2020 I have spent about three weeks on total living in the flat. So, since December I have hardly lived there and the bills have been very high due to another tenant living there with her boyfriend and child, but I am being threatened. I have just paid the rent for March but I am leaving the flat and going to the UK and won’t be returning to Spain till May. I was wondering if I would be able to claim back my rent money for March and get my deposit back, my contract ends in June. Also, they are now not responding to my messages, could you help me?
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Hi.
I am currently in Korea after finishing a visiting student in Malaga last semester.
The landlord hasnt return a deposit of 300 euros since 17 feburary, and she even blocked me in WhatsApp.
I have some information about the landlord’s company, email, etc., as well as a conversation record.
I’m wondering if I can get my deposit back.
It s kind a small amount of money but it is big for me because I am a student so I dont know what to do.
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Regards
I left an appartment 2 months ago and signed a paper with an agency that the flat is fine and that the landlord will return the deposit.
Now the landlord does not reply to my calls, texts, and I also sent him a Byrofax. Also the agency does not help me with the case at all. The landlord has 1,700 euros and I would really like it back. What can I do? Does the agency have any responsibility on this?
Thank you!
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Hi.
I have a following problem with the owner:
I’ve met with him on the last day (30.06) of the contract and gave back the keys. I’ve asked if the flat is okay and the owner said that yes it is. He also said that the deposit should be returned within 10-11 days because he needs to withdraw it from Junta de Andalucia.
After 2 weeks, when I still haven’t received the money I wrote to him asking about it. He wrote back saying that some walls needed to be painted. He wanted 180 euros for that. I asked for the invoice but he didn’t have any because he didn’t ask for it to avoid paying taxes. He also sent me pictures of the damages. Some spots that needed painting were dirty since the beginning (I have pictures proving that). Other ones just needed a bit of cleaning (stain from a pillowcase). The most serious one was a damaged plaster. However it was damaged because of the door getting stuck and being unable to close (it got «swollen» because of the humidity). I had a lot of problems with a mild throughout the year. I reported before that the door is not working properly but the owner ignored that.
He didn’t inform us about the damage while checking the flat. He also didn’t inform us beforehand or propose that we can repair it on our own. He just paid the painter without our knowledge and he couldn’t provide us the invoice after.
Is there anything I can do to not pay for it?
Best regards,
Monika
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Hello, me and my ex-roomates have a similar problem. We all moved out of the flat at the end of January and the contract stated that we would receive our deposit after 52 days. That would have been 23. 03.2020. Since then we have not gotten our money back and have just contact with the person who is working for the owners. But he barely replies to our emails and texts and doesn’t give answers except for telling us that the Corona situation is hard for the company and he doesn’t know when we can get the money back. So what can we do next to pressure them more to finally give us back our money?
Thank you so much and best regards, Mathilda
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In April we moved apartments in Gran Canaria. We had to immediately leave our new apartment and return to the UK due to the government restrictions. We have now asked out ex landlords for the return of our deposit. They are refusing to return this stating that they had to replace the sun canopy on the terrace. This was damaged due to it’s age (approx 15-20 years). Repainting the apartment. Replacement of two cracked floor tiles from before we moved in. Recovering a chair and couch 2 years ago because of deterioration of the foam and cigarette burns. We have never smoked. Can you advise us if they can deduct these various things from our deposit and return none of the €1100.00 paid.
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Good morning,
I left an apartment in Madrid on 3rd Augusr this year and signed all the papers ending the lease. I was informed that the fianza would be returned within 30 days. Since then all my emails and contact with the rental agency have been ignored. How can I proceed to reclaim the money owed by them to me? Thank you
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My daughter rented a room in Barcelona with a contract and we paid one month’s rent as a deposit of 400 eupos to an agency in Barcelona called FlatCondal.
However, within a couple of months, she was burgled twice by someone who had key access to the apartment as no break-in was evident. My daughter reported this both times to the police but nothing was done. The owner of the apartment would pop in frequently and sexually harass her, so she very quickly felt unsafe and put in her one month’s notice. Upon departure she was asked to leave the keys but was not given a form to sign terminating the contract ( Documento de fin de Alquiler); at the time she was not aware, this was necessary. The rent was paid by me ( her mother) to an agency in the city in which the apartment owner is an administrator. We have Whatsapp messages from the agency saying that she would have her deposit of 400 euros refunded but now they are refusing to refund it with no reason given.
Is this something finically worth chasing up via yourselves considering the money involved?
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Due to coronavirus restrictions I have had to leave my apartment before the end of my contract (2 months) however I paid the whole 2 months rent and the deposit upfront so my landlady hasn’t lost any money. However, she is refusing to return my deposit and claims that I have broken the contract by leaving so suddenly. Is she right? I don’t understand how I can have ‘breached’ the contract when she has all the money. I understand that she might not want to return it to me until the end of the agreed contract time, but to refuse completely doesn’t seem possible.
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hello we have currently handed in our keys to the apartment and the landlord has brought up some random charges, we didn’t go through a agent to get the apartment, and it was brand new with poor quality installation and appliances, we signed the paper but wrote disagree with most of it, and now he is trying adding everything up, can you help and whats your fees, we are in palma Spain.
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Hello. My daughter Emma who is 22 and studying for an MA at the Autonomous Universidad of Madrid is renting a room in a flat in Calle Mayor. She lives with the Lessor, Susana, whose family own the flat and with whom she has signed a contract. Susana has been verbally abusive to Emma almost from day one, and finds fault over the smallest thing. She has forbidden Emma to have visitors and in the almost 5 months that she has lived in the flat she has only brought back two guests, not to stay over, nevertheless Susana got mad on both occasions. We, Emma’s parents, think that she uses intimidation and aggressive behaviour in order to control Emma. She has placed cameras in the flat, we believe to spy on Emma, and has now locked the Living Room door so Emma cannot use it. All this was affecting Emma’s mental health so we recommended that she leave. She gave Susana one months notice and paid up until the end of February. However, Susana went completely berserk and asked her to leave as soon as possible. We are now concerned that Emma will neither get the rest of the months rent back nor the deposit as Susana is finding every reason to keep the money (approx 1000 Euros) – such as wear on the mattress, stain on the kitchen work surface etc. Susana is even saying her lawyer says that Emma should pay the rent through to the end of June which is the end of the Contract and which we consider is a bluff. Emma is desperate to leave but we feel if she leaves without receiving any of her money back she will loose all leverage. Even though Susana thrives on confrontation the situation has deteriorated so much that we believe she wants Emma out almost as much as Emma wants to leave. This evening she called Emma a ‘hija de puta’ and for the first time Emma recorded some of that rant on her phone. We have a copy of the contract which we can send you.
Are you able to assist our daughter and how much would it cost?
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Hello, I had a tenancy with a landlord in Madrid that ended in July 2020, and I have yet to receive my deposit back of 600 euros. Initially when I contacted my landlord to ask what the process was in terms of getting the deposit back, he told me to send an email to an address with my bank information on, which I did. I have not received a reply to my many emails that I have sent, nor is my landlord replying to messages and calls to him privately. Since I am no longer living in Spain, I am unsure of how to go about getting my deposit back. I have copies of my housing contract signed by both me and my landlord, and I left the room in perfect condition. Are you able to assist? And if so, how much would it cost? Many thanks
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Dear Sirs, We are a Swedish couple renting an apartment from a daily business in Roses, Spain. We paid the full rental fee 1700.00 Euros for 4 weeks. Moving in three days ago in the apartment we found is was full of bedbugs and we have decided to breakup form this
apartment. Can we demand total refund due to the above bedbugs problem.
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Good morning Reuters Solicitors team,
My partner and I left an apartment on 30/09/2021 after living there for 12 months. Initial fianza came to 1 month rent.
Just yesterday, 31/11/2021, the landlord contacted us to say that we have forfeited the fianza due to the final utilities bills (to include the water that apparently was not charged to us throughout the year), a repair to the oven door and a deep-clean/repainting of the apartment.
The apartment was usually used as a short term holiday rental for several years. It seems like the owners have wanted to spruce up the place and have used our money as an excuse. We flagged that the dishwasher did not work and even the fridge freezer but forgot to mention the oven was also broken due to long term wear and tear. We even fixed the freezer in fact…
By his calculations, we conviently owe him money now but he is not pursuing it. This suggests a cynical ploy so that we do not contest his evaluation.
Please advise.
Charles
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Hello,
we have stayed for 2 months at a property from Waterfront Malaga (https://www.waterfrontmalaga.com/) and they are refusing to pay the deposit back. She received 250€ transferred to her account and refuses to transfer the deposit back, claiming we broke stuff in the apartment. She is not answering the phone for months now.
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What about a 6 months contract? The article 11 of the LAU is not applicable, right? When the contract is legally ending its not necessary to give a 30 days notice before the enddate, right? My landlord doesn’t want to give our deposit back because we didn’t let him know 30 days before the end date of the contract. The contract is also not automatically renewed.
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