If you are taking on a long term rental with Great Estates in Duquesa my advice is don’t!
They are refusing to give me back my rental depost which is over ?1500.
I would highly reccommend if you are taking on a long term rental to pay by credit card. At least of you get stitched up by the agent you can claim it back through the credit card company.
there more to this story , could tell us why thay didnt give you back your rental depost that must have give you a Reason
One of most important things to do when you leave an apartment (or other rental) is to do a walk through with the owner or property manager. Take pictures when you leave and both agree to any damages or to the condition of the rental. BEFORE you move in, a walk through should be done (pictures) and note any damages and condition of the rental. The move-in list should be referred to when you leave. See our Normal Wear Tear Guide.
TO GET BACK YOUR SECURITY DEPOSIT - RETURN THE KEYS (avoid a fee); give the landlord your forwarding address (failure to do so may void any “time” rights you have). Use common sense and leave the rental at least “broom clean”. If you do not have time to clean, hire a cleaning service. Ask the landlord if they have a cleaning service that they use or suggest.
there some thing fish here ....
not all the people would have the use off a credit card
jurdy
We had the walk through and a damage report stating no damages. We’ve even had a settlement letter stating exactly how much they owe use. They just refuse to pay us or even tell us why they wont pay us.
Didn’t think such a large company as Viva would be doing this as well, even though I know they’ve been having financial problems.
The firm that have stitched me up have allegedly been keeping landlords rent and deposits on properties as well. I’m in 2 minds at the moment as to whether to go the legal route, which after discussing it with 3 seperate lawyers seems to be too expensive and not a guarentee of getting our money back or publishing a website with details of what they have done to me and writing off the ?1500 they owe me.
The added problem we have is that we have now moved back to London.
Whats a ‘Denuncia’ by the way as I may come out for the day to see if I can resolve this face to face.
A denuncia is an official complaint you make at the local police station. not too complicated, in Marbella for instance they have a translator to help, take any receipts you have, they will photo copy them. Also the local town hall helps, as if they get a load of complaints they wonder whats going on and look into the company. Why should you let the agent keep YOUR money Good luck
Yes I understand what you mean, however the agent is the person acting on behalf of landlord and tenant and should be responsible for ensuring the deposit is returned. Most leases do not give full details of the landlord, i e address, usually just bank account number for paying the rent, so a tenant would find it almost impossible to contact the landlord direct, back to the agent I think.
The agency told us they keep the money on behalf of the landlord. We have even exchanged correspondence with the landlord who has said he has tried to get the agent to refund the money owed.
Additionally, the agent hasn’t even told us why they will not refund us.
From where I stand, it seems they build this into their business model.
My experience with “Denuncias” (I did live in Spain for 8 Years) is that they are a waste of time. I also had some deposits which where never returned, my wife has been insulted as “Puta Negra” (she is Asian….....) and I have been insulted and physically assaulted because my dog did drink in a public fountain. Also I did made a “Denuncia because a Spaniard did consistently block the way out of my house by parking his car on the wrong spot. All Denuncias did end up in nothing, and did provoke much hassle for myself.. :cheese:
But I have to add that this was in Catalunia, from which many say that this is not really Spain.
Re the deposit from property agents in Duquesa. In view of more information made available on this topic. Go to the office with relevant documents and correspondence, ask to use their Complaints Book, all businesses need one BY LAW, if they refuse, you should ring the Guardia, who will come and investigate, also they will check the office is legal. Go armed with the phone number of the guardia. I know this works. If they do let you use the complaints book, it is in English as well as Spanish, quite straightforward, One copy goes to the Town hall who will investigate. Denuncias do work I made one several years ago and the matter went to Court within 6 months, maybe I was just lucky.
As I mentioned above, I’m now based in the UK so its proving somewhat difficult to resolve this. However, on a positive note, i’ve been advised that I can grant power of attorney to a solicitor and they can make the complaint on my behalf.
If this doesn’t work, i have actually purchased the .co.uk domain of the website of the company concerned where I plan to expose them for what they are. I know this sounds spiteful but if you had been treated like we have you’d probably want to do something a lot worse…
It sounds like you have no choice but to send the boys round! hehehe
Seriously though, we have good lawyers in Banus if you wanted to give them a call to see if they can take on your case, if the money is rightfully yours then there is no reason why it should be sitting in their bank and not yours!
I have had dealings with Viva in the past and deposits, we did pay on our CC and got our money back within 24 hours - after threatening to get my Credit Card company involved (and I did actually call them) - what a sad state of affairs for your business when you need to take money that didn’t belong to you in the first place!
I rent our townhouse in Torreblanca but I don’t use agents (waste of time and money for all parties concerned) and we have an inventory (plus a separate account where the deposit money goes) and in that inventory we detail everything down to the knives and forks and also list the price it would cost the renter to replace the item should it be lost/stolen. No arguments that way - it is in black and white for them to see and for me - so when I return the deposit they know exactly how much has been deducted (if need be) and why 😊
I feel for you, who needs this kind of stress added to everyday life eh - don’t estate agents/letting agents manage to give themselves a bad name for stupid things!!!
