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ONGOING SCAM? RENTAL HOUSE SURVEYS
DEAR FELLOW HOUSE RENTERS especially in the Tervuren region
Has anybody had bad experiences with ingoing and outgoing surveys for houses for rent in the Tervuren region (and maybe outside as well) especially with IFAC? It seems like NO expats renting from them ever get their deposit back. It also seems nobody else seem to care to get their deposits back. I want to check if this is true because some things we are being charged for like toilet brush holders that was there at the ingoing survey for 40 Euros! And apparently they can charge you costs for something forgotten like a waffle maker you have accidentally left behind. The procedure of how the costs of damages are not transparent, but it seems to always exceed the amount of the paid deposits. Btw they apparently would even charge you for bulbs that do not work. Does any expat out there have more knowledge about this matter? Could it be a systematic scam???
You can always hire your own expert and have them go through your apartment, instead of only using the one the landlord suggests. I find they are usually slanted toward the landlord, but there are many that are fair and impartial. Also helps to be there when they are doing the survey!
However, regardless of who is doing it, the exit survey is based on the entrance survey, so if things were in the apt then/working which are not when you leave, then you have to replace them.
Hope you get it sorted out.
I met my relocation agent in a pub several years after moving to Belgium. The system is rotten and expats who can't read the local languages are like lambs to the slaughter.
Test achats.
I've moved out of rented accommodation twice. Both times with Flemish landlords and experts.
On both occasions our deposit was refunded in full with interest and on the second occasion we also got a hand-written letter thanking us for having been such good tenants and having left the place in such good order.
There are good and bad landlords and good and bad experts all over the world - Belgium is the eighth country where I have lived so I speak from experience.
If you don't bother to get whatever you are signing translated into a language which you understand then you have only yourself to blame. If you don't take time to check that the items that are in the apartment and working when you moved in are still present and correct when you move out then you cannot complain that you are charged for any discrepancy. It says that in the agreement which you signed.
'A plan to correct the situation' might be to make sure that you understand what you are signing. Never to agree to something that you feel is wrong or don't understand. And, when you leave a place, make sure that you have meticulously followed your obligations under the contract which you have signed. In other words, don't make it easy for someone to rip you off.
I agree that there are landlords and experts who take advantage of expats but there are equally loads of expats who make little effort to help themselves.
And it's the same the whole world over. Do you know that there are taxi drivers in New York who go the long way round in order to rip off tourists? Shock horror!
None of the things you mention sound particularly excessive, and definitely not enough to justify calling this "a systematic scam".
"we are being charged for like toilet brush holders that was there at the ingoing survey for 40 Euros!"
If the toilet brush holder was there when you moved in, and is mentioned in the survey which was completed when you moved in, if of course must be there when you move out. 40 euros is not a crazy price, depending of course on what type it was - but a nice one can easily cost that (take a look at the Brico web site for examples). In any case they are not charging you only for the item, but for the time and effort it will take to replace it.
"And apparently they can charge you costs for something forgotten like a waffle maker you have accidentally left behind."
Makes sense. From their point of view its rubbish which they will have to get rid of (can't be put out with normal waste as it's an electrical good so it has to be taken to a special recycling depot.
"they apparently would even charge you for bulbs that do not work"
Again, if the light bulbs were all working when you moved in, they must be working when you move out. If they are not, it's up to you to replace them (which in any case will be much cheaper because the agency will charge you not only for the bulbs, but for the time it takes to buy and replace them).
You should of course go to court if you truly feel you have been swindled, but before you do make sure you read and fully understand the rental agreement you have signed, and especially the parts which concern the state in which the property must be in when you leave.
I do like the suggestion that it is ONLY you to blame if you get ripped off. Complete crap of course.
"I will probably be on my own but a woman has got to do what men do not want to do."
What does this mean? You expect men to do your work? Typical lazy feminist attitude, do it yourself.
