There are many legitimate letting agents around, but, unfortunately, there are also quite a few unpleasant characters who especially target expat tenants. In general, it is safer to rent through members of established realtors’ organisations like the MVA or the NVM than through unattached agencies. If you live in Amsterdam and have any other questions about housing rentals you can contact the !Woon agency in your area. Advice is confidential and free of charge.

Tips on Avoiding Scams in the Dutch Rental Market

• Don’t do business with landlords who only offer an email address, a mobile phone number, and/or a Facebook page. Ask for more information to establish with whom you are dealing, such as an actual business address or residential address. Ask for a proof of ID, check it, do an internet search about this person or company. Be aware that ID copies sent via email can be fakes. This often occurs in combination with requests to transfer money via Western Union.
• Check who owns the apartment via the Kadaster property register. If you live in Amsterdam and need assistance with this, the Meldpunt can help. If the owner and the prospective landlord are not the same, ask for an explanation, and, if necessary, ask for a written authorisation confirming that the landlord and/or agency are acting on the owner’s behalf.
• Apartment ads on websites like Facebook, marktplaats.nl, craigslist, or other advertising websites, aren’t always reliable. There are many illegal sublets on offer. You could end up paying lots of money but still being evicted or even fined.
• Ask if you can register with the council at the address (“inschrijven”). If the answer is no, that’s a red flag. It might be an illegal sublet, or a tax scam. It’s anyone’s guess what is going on.

Viewing

• Does the offer sound too good to be true? Then it probably is. Cheap rental accommodation on a canal in the city centre is extremely rare. Be extra alert if you are being offered an apparently amazing deal. If you feel uncomfortable, if things don’t seem quite right, pay attention to that feeling and be extra cautious.
• Be extra careful about renting an apartment you haven’t seen. If you’re not in the country yet, can you ask someone (a colleague, friend, or classmate) to inspect the apartment for you? If possible, talk to the neighbours. Do they know the apartment? Do they know who lives there? Any extra information can help you assess whether the person offering the apartment can be trusted.
• Don’t allow yourself to be pressured. Scammers are often in a hurry. They will push you to sign the lease quickly. Demand enough time to assess the situation, the apartment, and the contract properly.

Payment

• Before you hand over large sums of money, check the keys and make sure they work. If you can’t do this yourself, perhaps you can ask friends, colleagues, etc. to check the apartment. Be aware that even this is not a guarantee, but it definitely improves your chances.
• Scammers sometimes ask for various kinds of fees, as well as a deposit. Deposits are legal, but many other fees such as agency fees, disproportionately high administration fees, or contract fees, etc., often are not. Recently, many tenants have had success getting their agency fees refunded. If you live in Amsterdam the !Woon agency or the Meldpunt can help you reclaim such illegal fees.
• Preferably pay via bank transfer. Demands for other types of payment, such as transfers via companies like Western Union or cash payments (especially payments without receipts) are another red flag. If you have to pay cash, make sure you get a signed receipt. Have witnesses present when you make cash payments. Send confirmation emails to the landlord or the agency. Use your phone to record the conversation during your cash payment. In this conversation try to state the amount clearly, the reason you are paying (like “this is September’s rent”), name the apartment’s address, and the recipient. In general: build a file. Keep screen shots of the apartment’s advertisement, and keep all emails.
• If you still get scammed, contact the police immediately and press charges.

We hope you will find yourself a nice place to live. Good luck!

Adapted from an article previously published on WS Wonen. Full permission granted.

photo credit: Flickr via Photopin cc

The post Tips To Avoid Housing Scams appeared first on Amsterdam Mamas.

If you rented an apartment in the past five years and you were charged agency fees, usually about a month’s rent plus taxes, this might not have been legal. If so, you might be able to claim this money back.

Because there is a conflict of interest between the landlord and the tenant, letting agencies are not allowed to represent both parties at the same time. They can only represent either the landlord or the tenant. This has been determined by several judges, as well as by the Dutch consumer authority ACM (Autoriteit Consument en Markt). The agency is only allowed to charge the party they are allowed to represent. If that is the landlord, then the agency cannot charge the tenant, and the tenant does not have to pay the agency. If the tenant has already paid, she or he can claim a refund.

So legally, who does your agency represent: the landlord or the tenant? Usually the first one to contact the agency about the apartment is considered to be the client. If the agency advertised the apartment-to-rent on a website then the landlord was clearly the first to contact the agency (according to the ACM consumer authority as well as several court verdicts). This means the agency is representing the landlord and the tenant should not be charged an agency fee.

If you were charged an agency fee as a tenant, you might be able to claim a refund.

What to do if You Were Illegally Charged an Agency Fee

The maximum term for reclaiming unjust agency fees is five years. If you live in Amsterdam, please contact the !WOON tenant support agency or the Meldpunt to see if you are entitled to a refund, and if so, help you get it. Some cities have huurteams who might be able to assist. You can also contact the nearest Juridisch Loket legal support agency, or a lawyer (for example if you have legal insurance). You can search online for companies or lawyers specializing in reclaiming agency fees. They tend to work on a “no cure, no pay” basis. If you win, a pre-determined percentage is deducted from the refunded sum. Below is a list of some of these agencies. 

You can also start by doing (some of) the work yourself. Here is an explanation of how you could claim a refund. The legal documents, like the sample letters and the sample summons, are in Dutch.

Write a Letter to the Agency

This letter needs to include the following information:

• That the agency was working for the landlord and therefore you were not obliged to pay an agency fee.
• You want a refund within two weeks of the date on your letter.

If the agency does not comply, you will start legal proceedings, taking the matter to court. There are sample letters on the following sites:

• The Dutch Realtors’ Association (NVM), see their page on commissions.
• The Woonbond Tenant’s Association, you can download their sample letter.
• The Juridisch Loket’s sample letters.

Please send your letter by registered mail as well as by regular mail, and make sure you keep a copy.

Going to Court

If the agency does not refund your agency fee, you will need to go to court. If you wish, you can have someone represent you, such as a lawyer or another expert. But you are also allowed to represent yourself. If you want to pursue the case yourself you will need to write a summons.

The NVM (Dutch realtors’ organization) provides a sample summons; please also see their page on commission.  

More Background Information (in Dutch)

consuwijzer.nl

acm.nl/

Below are some commercial agencies who offer to claim back agency fees. We only have experience working with Guido Zijlstra.

guidozijlstra.nl (Amsterdam)

procedeerwinkel.nl

claimnu.nl

terugvorderen.nl

onterechtbetaald.nl

lvdo-legal.nl

We wish you all the best and hope you will receive the refunds you are owed!

This article originally appeard on WijksteunpuntWonen, and has been republished with permission. Since this article was written, a number of agencies have declared bankruptcy (and perhaps continued working under another name). This means they will no longer pay their debts to their previous clients. Dafna’s advice is if you have unjustly been charged an agency fee and want to claim a refund, the sooner you do it the bigger the chance of actually getting your money back. See here for more information.

The post How to Reclaim Unjust Agency Fees appeared first on Amsterdam Mamas.