urgent advice needed!

[nikkij]

hi everyone,

we have been renting here for 6 months and i have been unwell for 4 months and the doctors don't know how long it will take until i am better so we have to return to the uk.  our contract was for 6 months and is up in a few days, we rented through an agency and paid 2 months deposit.  our landlord has been difficult from day one, there was several things that had to be mended in the house when we moved in which the landord fixed but was not happy about (apparantly their last tenants wrecked the house).  we have said we will leave a buffer for any outstanding bills ( the amount we agreed is almost double what the bills will come to) Anyway the landlord is refusing to give us all our deposit back even after they have checked the house. they have said it is in case they find a fault later on!!  we don't want to return to the uk without our money as we believe we will never see it again.  the agency say there is no more they can do.  my partner has to drive our car back and we want to book our flights ( i have two small children) does anyone know where we will stand if we just stay in the house until we can recoup the money.  it is not something i want to do but i don't know what choice we have. if anyone has any advice or knows if there is anything we can do we would be really grateful. 

thanks

nikki

[Ray]

Most important get well. Dont let the stress of this make you worse. Who is your agent ?

Ray

[nikkij]

thanks ray,

stress is making it worse i am trying to keep calm, we are gutted that we have to go back to the uk and all this is leaving us with such a bad feeling.  i don't know if i am allowed to name the agency on here, if anyone can let me know if it is ok i will.  we have been told by the agent that the landlord thinks all english people are the same and that we will wreck her house like the last tenants so i don't know why she rented it to us in the first place.  i am so annoyed because only yesterday we painted inside so there were no marks on the walls the house is spotless. aaaargh!!!!

[John B]

Could you arrange a formal hand over, where you give back the keys after you have agreed in writing the state of the property?  After that, the liability is the landlord's.

[Josie]

John is right.  If the deposit is only to cover physical damage you should get it back in return for the keys after a joint inspection.  Keeping the keys and staying in the house is the only hold you have over the landlord.  That is rather a high risk strategy however.  Do you know someone who speaks good Spanish who can explain your situation to the landlord if the agent hasn't achieved anything?

[nikkij]

thanks for the advice

 everything everyone has said is completely reasonable but these people aren't reasonable, we already agreed that the owner and agency would come and check that everything was fine with the house and even if there was nothing wrong they said that they would not give us the rest of the deposit in case they found something wrong later on!!!  there is no reasoning with them, we said we would not leave the house until they give us our deposit back but I cannot deal with the stress of that i think i am just going to have to write it off as a bad experience.

[Josie]

One last thing - what does the written contract say?  The owner might see sense if it is pointed out to her that she has to return the money (or most of it).

[nikkij]

the contract only says that the house and contents should be returned in the same condition we received them in, which it is  (minus the 30 dead cochroaches i cleaned out of the cuboards and wardrobes) but the agent won't even speak to the owner anymore as even he has says she is unreasonable an difficult.  she is also on another island and won't be coming bck to inspect the house she is leaving that to her ex husband who also owns half the house. he is coming to inspect it but agrees and with her and said we are already lucky to have received some of our money.  i don't think they care what is in the contract she has just decided she is keeping our money for at least another month after we have gone and she knows there is not much we can do about it.

thanks anyway everyone

[Celtygirl]

What about issuing a denouncia(sp?) against the landlord?

[nikkij]

to be honest i don't think i have got the energy and i know the stress will just make me worse.  i am just going to keep my fingers crossed that eventually we will get some of our money back.  thanks i will keep you posted

[richt71]

Nikki,
It might be worth making an appointment to see Eileen lawlor (a top spanish lawyer but speaks fluent english). One of her specialities is rental property. She's a straight talking lady. Might cost you 30 - 40 euro's. She's in arrecife.

http://www.lanzarotelawyers.com/uk/

[Madstock]

It sounds to me that the agent is pretty useless too.

I do hope your health improves Nikki. X

[Josie]

Good advice richt71! 

[Celtygirl]

What about asking for the agents complaints book - may spur them into action if they think you're going to do something?

[John B]

Good advice richt71! 

I agree.