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Hi Vivian,
I saw your piece in the Tyger Burger on Agents turning to rentals.. ( I have purchased a property.. waiting on registration, this I will rent out preferable through an agent. But below is the info i request if you could possible help me.)
I am not an agent but the following caught my eye “ ... very often when a tenant has vacated a property...... Without jointly recording ingoing and outgoing inspections there is no basis for deducting from a deposit in terms of the Rental Housing Act..
I am in an situation where I rented from the owner for 2 years, they sold the house and I had to move on short notice. I have always looked after the placed I lived in (built 2 houses, lived there for 2 years plus then sold it, currently renting) The house i moved in 2 years ago which I now vacated, was a newly build place. The contract I signed did not state I’m not allowed to put up portrait hooks, anyway, no jointly recording was made when I moved in or OUT!! The woman who bought the place came to look, as the owner and his wife was not available..but no list was made, according to me the place is fine nothing broken etc, yes the walls need a paint cause the paint can’t be washed, its of such poor quality that the paint stuck against my leather lounge suite where my cleaner pushed it against the wall. I handed the woman the keys.
When i called them to hear when I will get my R4500.00 they said once the REPAIR and paint the walls?? I spoke to the owner, I said fine, give me the opportunity to get a friend of mine who has been painting houses the last 16 years, to come paint the place, I will pay him then when they come and inspect and are happy they can pay back my deposit. The owner said that’s not how he works, my friend must give him a quote, my friend says he will do me a favour not for this guy, hes got nothing to do with him.
All this was a week ago, I moved out the 31st of Jan 11.
To give you an idea, the person I’m renting from now, I took her to that house to show her how neat I keep a place after living there for 2 years, and on that ground she gave me her house to rent.
Please advise if there is anything I can do to get my money back, or at least have the chance to do the “so called repairs” myself, then I have conrol over how much they spend. My rent was paid on time every month, they never had any problems with me renting the place.
Kind regards and thank you
Noleen
Reply:
Dear Noleen
The Rental Housing Act does not permit any deduction from a deposit unless the required ingoing and outgoing inspections have been jointly conducted. Without these nothing can be deducted from the deposit which is your money.
I suggest you contact the Rental Housing Tribunal, tell them your story and lodge a claim for your deposit. The staff there is very experienced and will help you. The service is free. Telephone number is 0860 106 166.
Sincerely
Vivien Marks |
