Tenants have legal ways to defend themselves when landlords fail to refund their money. We explain how.
Renting a house these days is no easy task for tenants. There is little supply, rents have risen, and, in addition, some landlords ask for high security deposits, which are difficult for many families to guarantee. And the worst happens when, at the end of the contract, this money is not returned to the tenants. Today we explain the consequences for landlords who break the rules and how tenants can defend themselves.
What are the consequences of not returning the security deposit at the end of the lease?
First of all, it is important to clarify that the landlord can legitimately request a security deposit when signing a lease. The security deposit regime in the lease agreement is provided for in Article 1076(2) of the Civil Code (CC) and provides that the parties may guarantee, in any of the forms provided for by law, the fulfillment of their respective obligations.
In other words:
The landlord may require the tenant to pay a cash deposit in order to prevent any damage that the tenant may cause to the property during the period of occupancy.
The security deposit must be expressly stated in the lease agreement, namely its amount, if it is agreed that a monetary amount will be paid for this purpose. There is no limit to the amount requested by the landlord as a security deposit, and the tenant may agree to it or not. In the latter case, if the tenant considers the landlord's demand to be unreasonable, they may decide not to enter into the lease agreement.
The security deposit may be used by the landlord to carry out maintenance work on the property, the deterioration of which was caused by the tenant living there. For example, if the tenant hangs a picture on a wall (Article 1073 of the CC), but this results in damage to the property, then the tenant may carry out the repair, or the landlord may use the security deposit for this purpose.
On the other hand, if there is no need for any repairs or if the tenant has carried them out before handing over the property, then the tenant may demand that the landlord refund the security deposit.
However, what has been reported to us represents situations in which some landlords, when faced with the requirement to refund the amounts paid as a security deposit, have refused to do so.
The conduct of these landlords may give rise to contractual liability and, in more extreme cases, criminal liability.
Let's take a look:
The refund of the security deposit to the tenant, if none of the situations in which the tenant may use it to cover the aforementioned damage to the property are verified, immediately implies a breach of a contractual obligation.
After being asked to fulfill this obligation, the tenant may demand, in addition to the refund of the amount due, the payment of interest on arrears at the legal rate in force (currently 4%).
The law provides mechanisms for tenants to respond to this type of behavior by landlords, so if you are faced with a situation such as the one described above, you should contact a lawyer to find out how to proceed.
Source: idealistanews