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Rental guarantee
Can a landlord demand amount higher than rental guarantee? I moved out and according to etat des lieux de sortie I owe the landlord 1500 EUR for damages to apartment. My rental guarantee is 1100 EUR. Now he demands that I pay 1500 EUR into his account. Can he demand more than rental guarantee? Thanks.
Landlord can demand as much as he thinks will cover the cost of the damage as set out in the etat des lieux.
You can always disagree and get a 2nd opinion for the etat des lieux but that would also be at a cost where the original entry etat des lieux would be compared with the state of the property at exit.
The amount of the rental guarantee (which legally can be a maximum of two times the monthly rent) is in no way linked to the amount of damages the landlord is entitled to ask for. So if you had caused 5000 euro worth of damage he would be fully in his rights to ask for that amount.
The most important issue now is whether the damages really amount to 1500 euros. Check the ELS extremely carefully and argue every point that you do not agree with. It is quite possible that the landlord is asking for inflated damages.
I hope you did not yet sign the ELS, otherwise you don't have much of a recourse.
You damaged it, you are liable for it. Yes, the whole amount. And the cost o recovering it if you don't pay up and he has to go to court.
Don't sign anything and get your own expert to do a second sweep of the place straight away. He can't take you to court until mediation takes place and chances are he just invented the problems in the first place so a second expert in your presence may help a bit.
Also it depends what they are asking for too but general rule of thumb is these swine will walk away with your deposit anyway as the Belgian system is simply not an objective or fair one.
If you can afford to, hire a lawyer because it's unlikely they have one and even understand their own contract and normally they will cave in with the reality of having to go to court and settle for a fairer price.
Mind you finding a good aggressive lawyer is the hard part as they don't give a toss either.
Also take note and save all communications because it is a very fine line between reasonable communication within the law and criminal harassment, if at any point you feel threatened or threats are made or contact with another family member report it to the police. There is no interference allowed in settling rental disputes and it carries a minimum fine of 5000 euros.
Dear MX,
What can I say ?... if all Expats Tenants with problems with their landlords queued infront of the Prime Minister residence the traffic would be collapsed. I am affraid it's an usual common practice of Landlords in Belgium to take the maximum proffit from their tenants. The wear and tear does not exist in Belgium, and after 6 year contract they expect to find their house at least as new as on the date of signature of the contract. An office to protect tenants should be put on place without further delay. Brussels is famous their landlords/tenants problems. Good luck.
Hi, could you let me know what happened in your case. I am in a similar situation. He is asking me to pay 1000 euros. My landlord is threatening me that he would take me to court . Can he do that? He doesn't know where we live. Please reply.
