Getting deposit back from landlord

You take him the Blocked Account Release form (get one from the bank where you opened the blocked account), get him to sign the release, and the bank releases you money.

This is not the UK.
Get the form from your bank. The landlord can't get the money either without your signature or a court order.

A classic error. Anyone renting a place in Belgium needs to carefully check the lease, make sure the deposit goes into a blocked account and have an etat de lieu on arrival and departure. The expert at the etat de lieu who should be independent will decide the costs of repairs etc.
Without all these in place, you will probably have to write this off to experience. Legal costs could be much higher.
Sadly many landlords consider the deposit to be theirs to cover repairs.

According to Belgian law, there are three legal options to establish a rental guarantee with money (a guarantee can also be established with other means but this is rare):
- a bank account established in the name of the tenant; the signature of both the tenant and the landlord is required to release the funds at the end of the rental period.
- a bank guarantee, i.e the bank puts up the money instead of the tenant, and charges a (hefty) fee for this service
- a bank guarantee which is established in connection with the CPAS (this option probably not much used by the average expat tenant).

If the landlord receives the guarantee in cash, they have to establish a bank account in the name of the tenant without delay.

I'm willing to bet that your landlord never actually did establish the bank account in your name. If he had, it is my understanding you would know about it as the bank would have contacted you to obtain your signature.

So he kept the money and most likely he does not now have the sum in hand now that he has to return it to you (the "already been sent, will arrive soon" is the classic "the cheque is in the mail" excuse").

By the way, in addition to the initial guarantee he also owes you the amount of any interest it would have generated had it been placed in a bank account (ok, with the interest rates being so low during the past years this would probably be only a few euros).

I am afraid the only way to claim your money back is to go through the normal procedure established in these cases.
Since you failed all the previous amicable attempts then your next step is to send a registered letter of "Mise en demeure" , which is basically an official request to release your deposit in XX amount of days (you decide : one week, 15 days, etc) and with the warning that failing to do so you will approach a Juge de Paix and take legal actions (with the risk that he will have to pay legal costs if found at fault for withholding the deposit without any reasons). Sometimes the Mise en Demeure is enough to move things around...

You can find templates online if you Google it and you need to adapt it to your case.

But you need to understand all the passages and follow through with a Juge de Paix in case of no reply. No need to employ a lawyer for the first step. There are also association that helps tenants and support them legally for these types of disputes.

Don't speak to a lawyer, or even try and navigate your way through writing letters / going before a Justice de Paix as unless you really understand what you're doing, you'll make a mess of it and they guy will just ignore you.

Instead, go and see a huissier de justice. This is precisely what they are for. Their fees are fixed and in the case of debt recovery, are largely paid by the debtor, so it won't even cost you anything.

Again, a Mise en Demeure is usually the first step and it is sometimes required as evidence before initiating a procedure with JdP or HdJ.
It defines clear expectations and consequences for inaction.

But in the end do what you want.

https://www.droitsquotidiens.be/fr/question/comment-recuperer-la-garanti...