IF YOU ARE A TENANT WHO HAS BEEN SCAMMED BY FRIENDLY HOUSING, PLEASE RE-POST THIS GUIDANCE IN YOUR REVIEW.(The guidance explains how to claim back money from Friendly Housing. These are legal actions you can take without fear of eviction or any legal consequences, as tenants are protected by Dutch tenancy law).-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------PART I: SCAM EXPLANATION.- Friendly Housing illegally overcharge costs to unsuspecting tenants. In every Dutch tenancy contract, rental costs are broken down in 2 parts: Basic rent & Service costs.- Basic rent: The amount of basic rent is determined by a list of criteria that the house has to fulfill by Dutch law. If these criteria are not met, then the tenant has the right to request rent reduction.- Service costs: The amount of service costs for a student room is typically 70-80 euros / month, but Friendly Housing always charge excessive service costs. In my case they charged 240 euros a month. At the end of every year, the landlord is obligated by law to provide a settlement for unused service costs.>Action: ''With the help of Huurteam Eindhoven, I claimed back 2600 euros in service costs for the period of 2 years, without having to go to court.''- Website Charge: In every contract Friendly Housing charges 15 euros / month for the website. Dutch Legislation over rentals prohibits such charges. Every tenant has the right to claim these costs back.>Action: ''I used the services of Huurteam Eindhoven who helped me claim back 645 euros from Friendly Housing, without having to go to court.''- Withheld deposit: Friendly Housing withheld my full deposit after moving out, by making false undocumented claims about damages to the room (e.g. dirty curtains).>Action: ''When checking in take photos of the condition of all items in the room and register them in an inventory. At the end of your tenancy, before checking out, a pre-inspection has to bee carried out where the real estate agent has to to notify you of what repairs need to made. Consult the Huurteam on how to prepare for the pre-inspection and document the condition of all items using photos. If Friendly Housing doesn't carry out a pre-inspection or falsify the condition of items at check out, you have the right to sue them (covering all legal costs using Rechtsbijstand: 150-250e) and claim your deposit + legal expenses back.''-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------PART II: HOW TO GET YOUR MONEY BACK.If you are a tenant of Friendly Housing, contact Huurteam Eindhoven (free legal support) to get advice on how to reduce your rent, get a refund of your service costs and claim back other illegal charges from this unlawful agency in 3 easy steps:Step 1. Invite the Huurteam agent to inspect your house & room.Step 2. Following from the inspection, the Huurteam will make a calculation for rent reduction, amount of service costs and further charges withheld.Step 3. The Huurteam will send a legal letter to the landlord, and demand a payment otherwise the case will be forwarded to the Tribunal for a cost of 25 euros (for you). The landlord will be forced to reach a settlement and pay up immediately to avoid further legal expenses at the Tribunal (which are very high for them).
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