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Urgent landlord problem
. I am moving out of my old flat in Brussels. My contract says that there would be a third party inventory check on entry and exit, the cost of which would be shared between the landlord and the tenant. However, when I moved in the third party check was not done in my presence nor did I receive any reports of the same. But now when I am vacating the apartment my landlord brought the third party again without my consent and has asked me to pay 50% of the third party's fee. Moreover, the estimated damages cost is 683 euros. We have not made any major damages. Almost all of them are wear and tear like carpets not cleaned enough, tap too tight to be opened(which was like that from day1). The kitchen counter top has expanded at the edge as the water seeped in and was charged 300 euros.
He made us sign on the report of the third party" etst des lieux de sortie ", which includes the damages cost 683 euros + 50% of third party fee 266 euros. Please advice whether we should be paying this amount, as I strongly feel that he is trying to exploit our ignorance. If we don't pay this amount can he take any legal action against us?He threatened that he would take us to court
He does not know our new address. Can he send bailiffs after us?
Thanks for your time
avande
> 50% of third party fee 266 euros
Robbery.
Look at the prices on here:
http://www.bureaumaestro.be/etat-des-lieux-honoraires.html
No way should an Etat des Lieux cost €532 - that's 3 or 4 times what i should have cost.
> He made us sign
Then legally, you have agreed to it and have landed yourself in the doo-doo.
However, given that you have evidence of the "independent expert" being a fraud, you may have a case.
The question is - is it worth throwing time and money at for under €1000?
Avande, does the person that conducted the EdL has a website? could you check in there the usual fees requested to conduct the surveys? Note that the price might increase if the flat is furnished, has garages, cellars, gardens, large size etc etc. I am not sure what you can contest though... By signing the EdL de sortie you kind of accepted the statement.
I think you have learnt a hard lesson which is that you MUST request and BE PRESENT at the entry EdL and contest in WRITING each single thing that is not proper in the place you rent. You have a month to do that.
Secondly even if some things are considered minor (dirty carpet, a kitchen top damaged) it might cost some money to have them replaced or fixed (labor is quite expensive in Belgium)
Your ex landlord cannot send the bailiff straight away, but if you refuse to pay he/she can contact the local Juge de Paix for an action against you, it might take months before the bailiff are sent (possible amicable solutions are explored before that) but if you will be considered the party to be blamed you will bear all the costs. And they are not at all cheap
ok, if you look at the link that J posted a 110 sqm apartment cost 148 eur to be inspected. Since it was furnished an additional 50% is required which is 74 eur.
Total imposable is 222 eur and you have to add 21% TVA. We got 268 EUR per counterpart which is 2 euro more than what your landlord correctly charged you. Even if steep it seems pretty reasonable to me.
In the report you should clearly see the price assigned to each item that was considered damaged. The Expert has a detailed list of cost per item and he/she calculated the number of months/years that passed since you have rented the property. Based on that he will assign the necessary compensation to the landlord.
"when I moved in the third party check was not done in my presence nor did I receive any reports of the same"
Is there a report or not? If there isn't a report, then they have nothing to compare against, and therefore by law, they can't charge you anything.
no that is just for the exit, usually the exit survey are slightly cheaper since the major checking work is done at the begin.
By any chance did you take over a rental contract with an existing EdL signed by the previous tenant or you just started a brand new rental contract?
that could explain a possible reason why you did not sign or paid anything
> They had a report but never gave to us nor did we sign on the initial (entry)third party check .
Ah. That's different then.
Legally, it means that they cannot prove anything, and you can legitimately claim that all the damage was done BEFORE you moved in.
They would need a signed entry EdL to prove otherwise, and as they have not got one, they are stuffed.
Given that, and that you have evidence that they are trying to overcharge you for the expert, I think you have a case.
You get better legal advice on www.pim.be. French is best, but they have been know to do English.
