5 Whth o inquga s liyfioeu s r fod r eepxopsuint gceamnenno t ob f e a ucsreiem d infoaolr

Ever wondered if your landlord is playing fair with your deposit for a rental property? Scorpion Legal Protection gives you 5 things your rental deposit may not be used for.

1. General maintenance and upkeep

It’s the landlord’s responsibility to ensure that the property is in good and safe working order. This includes making sure that the electricity supply, plumbing system, door fixtures and windows are working and unbroken and any appliances included in the rent, like a stove, are maintained.

2. Fair wear and tear

Fair wear and tear is the natural and gradual deterioration of the property over time as a result of the tenant’s normal use of the property. For example: carpet wear caused by normal use. The landlord may not deduct money from your deposit to pay for fair wear and tear.

3. Fines for late rent

Some landlords may try to deduct money from your rental deposit as a “fine” for paying your rent late because they are annoyed. This is not allowed. Make sure you check your rental agreement if you make use of a rental agency though, as they sometimes include fees for late payment of rent in their agreements, and then you will be bound by this.

4. Unreasonable expenses

You have the right to demand that your landlord provide you with all receipts for any repairs they use your deposit money on.

For example, your landlord hires a professional carpet cleaner for the bedroom carpet because you (the

tenant) left it dirty. This would be a fair expense. But if the landlord decides to have the entire house’s carpets cleaned when this wasn’t necessary and takes the full cost of this from your rental deposit, that would be unfair.

5. Repairing anything that was noted in the pre-inspection as broken/needing repairs

This is why doing a pre-inspection is so important – anything you noted here is proof of the condition of the property when you moved in. Your landlord cannot claim the cost of repairing anything that was listed in the pre-inspection from your rental deposit.

Outgoing inspections are also a must. If the landlord does not do an outgoing inspection with the tenant, it is taken as an acknowledgment that the property is in a good state and the landlord will not have any further claims against the tenant’s deposit money. We have a team of lawyers available to answer your legal questions every first Thursday of the month from 11:30 to 13:30 on the Scorpion Legal Protection Facebook page for free. Have your legal question answered on the spot at the Scorpion Live Q&A.

*This is only basic legal advice and cannot be relied on solely. The information is correct at the time of being sent to publishing.