Query No. 48698515 submitted by Heren Budhai dated 06 May 2011
Subject: unfair practice
Description:
We were locating from Cape Town to Johannesburg and were looking for property to rent in Johannesburg south. We saw an advert advertising a house that we thought was suitable for us. We had my father in-law view it on our behalf(as he is from JHB). The guy from the agency allowed him limited access and assured him all the faults that he saw would be addressed by the time we arrive in JHB. i.e. the house would be painted, rain water gutters and down pipes would be fitted as the house had none, clean the carpets etc.
However when we view the property on the 1st of May, the property was in a very poor and unhygienic state.apparently the was a dispute between the renter and previous tenants. they apparently trashed the property before exiting. It was then we decided that we do not want it anymore and asked for our money back.
Christina from Harcourt's refuses to do so. She is going to keep one month's rent to penalize me. Can she do this?
Subject: unfair practice
Description:
We were locating from Cape Town to Johannesburg and were looking for property to rent in Johannesburg south. We saw an advert advertising a house that we thought was suitable for us. We had my father in-law view it on our behalf(as he is from JHB). The guy from the agency allowed him limited access and assured him all the faults that he saw would be addressed by the time we arrive in JHB. i.e. the house would be painted, rain water gutters and down pipes would be fitted as the house had none, clean the carpets etc.
However when we view the property on the 1st of May, the property was in a very poor and unhygienic state.apparently the was a dispute between the renter and previous tenants. they apparently trashed the property before exiting. It was then we decided that we do not want it anymore and asked for our money back.
Christina from Harcourt's refuses to do so. She is going to keep one month's rent to penalize me. Can she do this?
Based on the limited information that you have provided to us it seems that you have a case-in- hand against the landlady for not keeping her word and not only should she refund your entire advance money but you are also entitled to rent you pay for reasonable duration for identifing another property. Anything in writing while entering into an agreement with her will solidify your case. If you feel right you can ask her to clean-up things as promised so as to enable you to stay in her property as initially decided.
ReplyDeleteShould you need any further assistance, please do let us know.