r/Rentbusters

A few notes about this story:

1. Despite what the article implies, the order only applies to HiCondo tenants that had a puntatelling performed by the Gemeente, NOT all tenants.
2. The article does not mention that there is a current dispute regarding falsified Energielabels, which are keeping rents artificially high.
3. Something that keeps happening with the media and now the Gemeente itself: they keep wrongfully crediting Stichting !Woon, who had barely any involvement in the Gemeente investigations. The tenants themselves did the majority of the work; even the day that this article was published, the Gemeente emailed the bewonerscommissie asking them to help contact the tenants whose rents are to be lowered, **because the Gemeente apparently didn't keep track of their contact information.** We anticipate there'll be a news story in another outlet later this year that will help correct the record, because naturally, I have al the receipts.

Now the article:

Municipality wants to force student housing provider HiCondo to lower rents

Student housing provider HiCondo in Southeast Amsterdam is charging structurally excessive rents for 350 student studios. The municipality intends to force the manager to lower the rents through an enforcement process.

The monthly rental prices are tens to hundreds of euros higher than permitted under the points system of the Affordable Rent Act. This is evident from 'intensive investigation' by the municipality and the !Woon foundation, the municipality writes in a letter. The name of the property manager is not mentioned, but the !Woon foundation confirms that it concerns HiCondo.

Very high security deposits

Last March, HiCondo was also fined 45,000 euros . This was because the property manager charged excessive security deposits and service fees for services that the tenants did not receive at all. Those fines fell under a different law: the Good Landlordship Act.

Het Parool already wrote about the problems at property manager HiCondo last October . Tenants spoke of security deposits running up to nearly 3,000 euros for studios with rents between 800 and 870 euros. On top of that came annual service charges of 2,300 to 2,900 euros. HiCondo’s tenants are mostly young and international students. A British student said at the time: “I thought it was a lot of money, but I was in need. My studies were about to start and I still didn’t have a home.”

Complaint against manager

Responsible Alderman Zita Pels (Housing) said at the time that tenants needed to be patient despite the many reports they filed with the municipal hotline. “Even when we have all the evidence, it could still take a while,” she said then. Meanwhile, the case file the municipality is building appears solid enough to take action.

At the end of April, Stichting !Woon filed a complaint against the manager of HiCondo, Soner Sari, for forgery. The tenants' advocacy group in Amsterdam accuses Sari of falsifying invoices to substantiate the service charges. Sari allegedly submitted these invoices as evidence in cases before the Rent Commission and the sub-district court. It is not yet clear whether the complaint will be pursued by the Public Prosecution Service. Sari was unavailable for comment.

My partner has been caregiving for an old friend who is currently reaching the end of his life. After driving back and forth several times from our home in Virginia to his friend in Chicago over the last month, we have decided to try to bring the whole family next month so we can be together and he can continue to care for his friend. What is the best way to find a rental for a month that isn’t going to be $15k on Airbnb? He lives in Andersonville, and ideally we’d be within 20-30 minutes of his place.

For those of you who dont know me, I am Shane. I ruin bad landlords. I operate a subreddit called r/Rentbusters where I post ads of rental properties that landlords are "taking the piss" with. Overcharging on rent, illegal agency fees and obscene/outrageous service costs.

Utrecht is no strangers to bad large landlords with the likes of Marcel Van Hooijdonk and Betty Chang still scarring the collective memory of renters. One of the most brazen landlords of Utrecht is still however relatively intact : EU - Makelaardij

Located on Kanaalstraat and headed by a woman called Rokhia, EU_M run a furnishing contract scam with all their tenants,

Their website

Rokhia, who I have met, is so utterly shameless about the nature of this scam that I almost respect her for it - she doesnt offer any BS explainations/excuses for what her company does.

EU-M mainly offer small studios and apartments for rent. Typically the basic rent price will be set very low - 500 -800 euro.. a bit pricey when calculated against the points systems but not overly expensive when compared to other slum landlords.

The possibility to have furniture included in the contract will be mentioned in their ad before hand but the breakdown of individual costs will not be.

https://preview.redd.it/qtod3m9ohvah1.png?width=796&format=png&auto=webp&s=031cca80aedf8a82fc84b2474bc3e87abb045de3

In their latest ads, they ask tenants to indicate when applying for a property if they want furnishings or not. I believe this is a silent filter they apply as they will only select prospective tenants who choose "yes".

Once you are accepted to the property, the breakdown will be revealed to you in a high-pressure time limited fashion: two contracts will be sent to you: One of them is the lease agreement for the living space while the second is a separate agreement with EU-M to "hire" their furnishings for 1 year at a cost of 300-700 euro per month, paid directly to EU-M for a minimum of 12 months

https://preview.redd.it/233rjgynivah1.png?width=834&format=png&auto=webp&s=50588436cadd943b7faa0ba567c910f229339dd6

You will not be given the option to sign just the lease agreement at that point and the furnishing agreement is unavoidable if you wish to get the keys for the property.

Dutch law has a name for something like this: Unfair advantage (6:228WB / 6:248WB) whereby a party can petition to have a contract voided if the premise of the contract gave an unreasonable/unfair advantage to the other party such as a landlord introduce a last-minute change to the lease agreement with full knowledge that the tenant would be homeless if they didnt sign it.

A furnishing agreement charging 500 euro per month for used IKEA furnishing, given to the tenant as a precondition to receiving a rental contract fit this criteria in my opinion.

EU-M have had numerous Huurcommissie cases brought against them and forced to repay thousands of euro to tenants after officials rejected their defense that the furnishing agreements and the lease agreement are separate and independent from each other. Now EU-M have figured out that if they change the name of the landlords to a third party on the lease agreement and keep offering their furnishing contracts direct, they can make money and keep the Huurcommissie at arms length. This might work temporarily but it doesnt immunize them from court action.

EU-M have committed this furnishing agreement scam for many years on foreign tenants especially (dont even get me started on their deposit policy), something that does not sit well and I have decided that enough is enough: I want to get Rokhia banned from operating her business like Betty Chang got banned.

To that effect I have teamed up with Martijn van Dalen at LW Advocaten to organize tenants into a class-action group and go at EU-M together. I already have about half a dozen tenants lining up to join, mostly tenants who contacted me directly prior and are attempting to get their money back but it is a drop in the bucket: EU-M can absorb the costs of a few tenants rebelling when they have hundreds who are in the dark.

Now I post letters to all of EU-M addresses but that only works on properties they rent out and often the letters are ignored. Word of mouth and social media are surprisingly effective.

To that effect I have a number of tips.

1. If you rent from EU-M and are currently paying this furnishing fee - stop and tell them you want all the money back. Contact me if you need assistance.

2. Share this message with any friend or family member who is renting from them. If there are student whatsapp groups, share it there also. The big the net, the greater the catch.

3. If you have rented from EU-M but no longer do, you might be able to take them to the Huurcommissie instead of going to court. Contact me or the Gemeente

( https://www.utrecht.nl/wonen-en-leven/wonen/uw-huurwoning/hulp-bij-problemen-met-huur )

Every Gemeente has (or should have) a dedicated team to deal with bad landlords. The more people who complain the greater the chance that some Eldermen will take notice and fine EU-M into oblivion.

4. If you are about to sign a lease agreement with EU-M or interested in one of their properties, Seek alternative options.
   If alternative options are not available, try to avoid signing the furnishing agreement. Document all your interactions with them even in person. The more you can show that the furnishing agreement was forced upon you, the easier it will be to get it dissolved.

If you have to sign it, wait until you get the keys and then withdraw from the furnishing agreement. Since your landlord should (on paper) have no connection to the furnishings, it wont influence your lease agreement.

For any other advice, please leave your question in the comments below.

Hello,

I am currently on an indefinite rental contract, and I have one flatmate. There are 2 bedrooms in the flat, and we each have a room. Today, I have called the gemeente to denounce landlord intimidation, however the employee has informed me 4 people (including my landlord) are registered at this place. I have never heard of the 4rth person. In my 8 months of renting, my landlord has only visited us ONCE. He came for 15 minutes one day to check if everything was still ok/not broken. He actually leaves abroad.

He doesnt have stuff there, no shoes, nothing..

will i run into trouble regarding my rental contract if i denounce this fraud? i have been staying there for 8 months, on indefinite contract, and I have registered dutifully at the geemente. Also does anyone know who to call to make the situation regular?

update: the gemeente has been informed. thanks everyone for the kind comments and advice ☺️

Hi! International student here in Utrecht. I have been trying to add a roommate since before moving and was told as long as the roommate met the same criteria I did it should be fine but would need approval (she meets the criteria). They kept stringing the problem along and just told me they denied the request after a month and a half?? Is there anything I can do here? The main concern is her registering with the municipality (Utrecht) as she’s also an international student.
The contract states that 2 people may live here and I was directly told 2 people can register here. The general terms is what mentions the landlord needing to approve a roommate, but that was not available to me until a few weeks after signing the contract so I’m not sure if I technically signed it. Also the landlord stated they will deny any and all roommate requests, which seems to go against the contract. Not sure what to do here, currently figuring out 2024 income to speak to Het Juridisch Loket

Edited to add: if relevant, I did put in my application to the apartment that I was going to be adding a roommate

Recently I moved out of my rented apartment. The landlord has not refunded the complete deposit.

He has charged me for not clearing furniture that was already present in the apartment before I moved in. He claims that when I moved in I took over the furniture. Even though there was no mention on the contract about the furniture, I should be responsible for the clearing out of the furniture.

According to Dutch tenancy law (Article 7:224 BW), I am only required to restore the property to the state documented at the start of my lease. Therefore, the disposal or maintenance of these items is not my responsibility, and no deductions can be legally made from my security deposit for them.

What are my options to get my money back?

[supprimé]

Hi all,

I asked my landlord for the service costs breakdown for 2025 but he does not want to provide them. He said he charges a fixed monthly amount without settlement, and that was contractually agreed.

Here is what the contract says for the service costs:
Verhuurder zal zorgdragen voor de levering van de volgende levering en diensten in verband met de bewoning van het gehuurde:
Gas: Dit betreft een vast bedrag per maand zonder enige verrekeningen.
Water: Dit betreft een vast bedrag per maand zonder enige verrekeningen.
Electra: Dit betreft een vast bedrag per maand zonder enige verrekeningen.
+ some other costs like furniture, internet, maintenance of common areas (but those don't say zonder enige verrekeningen)

Is this legal? I feel like a contract can't overrule the law, but I don't know much about Dutch law so I wanted to check.
Also good to mention, my contract isn't "all-in". It has separate costs for base rent, internet, furniture, gas + electricity + water.
Thank you!

Hello, I am wondering if i can go to the huurcommissie for excessive charges. Below, you can find my landlord's email:

"Expenses are as follows:

1.         Monthly expenses payable by the landlord

(1)       Property management&heating fees (excluding adjustment surcharges)  €412

(2)       Internet and TV fees                                                                                                 €58

(3)       Water charges                                                                                                            €22

(4)       Electricity charges                                                                                                     €48

Subtotal                                                                                                                                 €540

2.         Annual taxes/fees payable by the landlord

(1)       Waste disposal tax                                                                                                  €390

(2)       Sewage treatment tax                                                                                           €496

Subtotal                                                                                                                                 €886

 

Based on the payment list above (excluding price adjustments or supplementary payments):

The landlord's average monthly cost is: €540 + (€886 / 12) = €614. (This amount is shared equally between the two tenants.)

 

The breakdown of your rental costs is as follows (monthly):

(1) Property management and heating fees (excluding  adjustment surcharges)     €206

(2) Internet and TV fees                                                                                                        €29

(3) Water charges                                                                                                                   €11

(4) Electricity charges                                                                                                            €24

(5) Waste disposal tax (390 ÷ 12) ÷ 2                                                                                  €16

(6) Sewage treatment tax (496 ÷ 12) ÷ 2                                                                            €21

Subtotal (service charges, other utilities, and taxes)                                                       €307

 (7) Base rent                                                                                                                           €593

Total rent                                                                                                                                  €900"

https://preview.redd.it/od8v4abbohah1.png?width=983&format=png&auto=webp&s=dcdbd108952921c42ce0bbe6771dd515760544dd

I've got an offer by an agency to rent a studio inside a bigger building, however they've sent heir calculation by Huurprijscheck and it is 80 points, Based on that they claim allowed rent can be max 716.80 euros. This is true for a room, so a non-independent living space, however studios are independent as far as i know and the 80 points there allows 500.38 euros of rent. This place is in a bigger house, but entrance and all is private, only the laundry room is shared. I wonder if they are allowed to claim this as a room and charge higher price because of that. The charges amount to 288€ euros a month which seems also excessive as well as the agency charging 180 euros administrative cost. I feel like this is a clear winner with Huurcomissie.
Charges: G/W/E : 110€
De vergoeding voor de overige zaken en diensten (servicekosten) die geleverd worden in verband met de bewoning van het gehuurde: 163€
Agency fee (on top of administrative costs)(monthly): 15€

So for years I have been living in a renting situation which is less than ideal and I was raised to trust social housing corporations as they would be better than commercial landlords, boy was I wrong... I was basically gaslit by how I was raised in this.

Ever since I went to Huurcommissie I noticed a shift within myself:

1. Fear for landlord and Huurcommissie; what will happen, will I upset my landlord oh no I'm rocking the boat😱

2. It feels good to do something about my situation and try something as I'm desperate and it's the only way up

3. I increasingly feel empowered and 'in control' not only about Huurcommissie process but also my own life again, I can change stuff!🙌

4. But no landlord becomes agressive and mean, sends weird lawyer letters

5. I overcome the lawyer letter and realise because I now know my rights for real now I've become even stronger and more resilient in life

6. The backlash from the landlord only adds to my 'you can honestly suck my dick' attitude I now have towards my landlord

Anyone else went through the same emancipation process?

Hey guys. Living in a small one-bedroom attic apartment in Rdam. Now on the indefinite part of my contract (after living 2 years).

I just found out, while trying to apply for huurtoeslag that my downstairs neighbours (both ppl living there) already maxed out the available spots for it. This also made me realise… I’m living in an unregistered unit (so gemeente sees that my neighbours and I live in one unit together).

Obviously, my neighbours are also entitled to huurtoeslag but I’m not sure what the next steps are for me personally. I’ve been paying around 1080 all incl per month for a 30 sqm apartment. I am not sure whether this also falls within a rent bust. I would appreciate any help but not in favour of the for-profits rent busters.