Landlord don't want to refund my deposit

I badly need some advice! I moved out my previous flat more than a month ago. I lived there 4 continues years. I finished the lease contract and I was able to notify the owner 2 months before my moving out date. My husband turned over the unit to the landlord and the landlord inspected the unit. In short everything goes smoothly. He told my husband that he will let us know if he find some problems. Anyway, we've waited two weeks, but the landlord did not contact us nor refund our deposits. We contacted the property agent and we were told that they couldn't contact the landlord also. After almost a month of waiting, we suddenly receive email through agent from the landlord saying that we cannot refund the deposit anymore because he must repair many things. The thing is those breakdown which they sent us is actually unbelievable! The landlord is charging us 4k for the seat cover alone. 10k for the small stain on the sink and 800 for the exhaust fan which is not actually broken but I admit it was dirty and many other small things which I think is regular tear and wear considering that we lived there for four years. He even charging us for some broken flooring 24k which we don't really understand why because there's no broken flooring there when we left. His calculation of the amount to be charged to us is just exactly the amount of our deposit worth 44k! I cannot believed this as there's no major problem when we left apart from it became a little dirty.it seems like the landlord want us to pay for the renovation of his flat. We are trying to coordinate with the property agent but they seems like ignoring us or they couldn't answer any of our questions. My family is not rich. This 44k is really huge amount to us! We just can't afford to throw away just like that! It's obviously we're tricked by the Landlord. Another thing, when my husband turned over the unit to landlord the agent was not together. The landlord told us that he will contact to our property agent during the turn over but actually the property agent didn't appear! Do you think the property agent has some liability to us also. Please please give us some advice. I can't sleep properly at night thinking of our stolen money. What can we do? Please help... Thank you in advance.

well yes


landlord has shoved you, i dont think there is much you can do, you can try it in small claims tribunal, but they are toothless tiger.


you should not have handed over the keys without deposit returned immediately.

I'm a landlord and I find it quite annoying that some other landlords seem to take normal wear and tear as damage. It gives landlords a bad name.

As a benchmark, I have rented out many properties in my time. I have never taken a deposit like this, except in situations where tenants terminated early. Only on one occasion have I ever charged a tenant for damage and that was for a broken shower tile (I'm talking totally smashed - I wonder how the tenant managed to do it!) and even then charged just a nominal rate which the tenant was cool about.


This landlord is just scum, and it would make me, as a tenant simply stop paying any rent 2 months prior to termination to avoid such risk.

Ps please do go to small claims. You will likely get a significant chunk back.

I had a similar problem a few years ago. After months of trying to negotiate and waiting I told him clearly on the phone that if I didn't have the refund in one week I was going to the Lands tribunal. He refunded the deposit the next day.

usually landlords cave in if you have a legal firm send a firm letter threatening court action

Thank you for all your advices. We already contacted our property agent to tell the landlord that we wanted another inspection in the unit with the presence of the Landlord and the agent. We told the agent that we want to clarify those alleged defects that the landlord is charging us but both of them are ignoring us. Both agent and landlord is ignoring us. They ignoring our calls and emails. If those claims are real, they dont have a reason not to show us those defects.i never seen any defects apart from the dirty exhaust fan and dirty carpet and some stain on the walls which i think reasonable because we lived there for four years. And i admit we broke the removable sofa cover by washing because we have only 1set of this cover for four years. I don't know what else i can do. Sigh...

Not much help but why oh why were you so naive? These people can be dreadful to the nicest of people. The small claims court is not a toothless tiger as it has the ability to make the landlord appear before a court. One thing I can say about this place is that even the most haughty do not relish the thought of going in front of a magistrate.

Before handing over you should photograph every inch of the place with the landlord present, then there will be no arguements afterwards.

Not much you can do now because you've handed over the keys. If you threaten court action, the landlord could deliberately damage the place (he has the keys) to clear his name and then you may end up needing to fork out extra to pay for the new damages!

Paying two months deposit in advance is normal practise. Next time you could just say you won't pay the final month's rent and get them to deduct from the deposit. Next time, before you return an apartment with the keys, have an agent present with the landlord and take pictures at the very same time. Ask the agent to tell the landlord that he has to bring in a cheque to refund the deposit to you.

Having said all that, if a landlord wants to cheat, he will, regardless of what was agreed.

I think it's the Lands Tribunal you need to go to. It doesn't cost much to take them to court - a few hundred dollars to apply. Keep a copy of all your emails and requests, etc.

The First step is to send a demand letter to the landlord indicating if there is no immediate no refund (state specific $ demanded), say within 10 days, you will take action.

You may then take out a small claim action in the Small Claims Tribunal (for a debt involving HK$50,000 or less). The Small Claims Tribunal is at 4/F, Wanchai Tower, 12 Harbour Road, Hong Kong; tel : 2877-4068; email : smallclaims@judiciary.gtov.hk


Weir & Associates

Solicitors & Notaries

16th Floor Tak Shing House

20 Des Voeux Road Central

Central

Hong Kong

Tel : 2526-1767

Fax : 2868-3568

Email : WeirLaw@WeirandAssociates.com

www.WeirandAssociates.com

Associates: Thank you for the information. It is invaluable. Unfortunately, a few writers mentioned going before the lands tribunal. From personal experience this would not be the proper venue in HK. In NYC and other locations it works for issues with the apartment and is called the Housing Court in the US. Here in HK it only deals with the contract issues of the lease, its terms, monies, etc. Other than that, yes one must go to the Small Claims tribunal. So in HK, even if one has an issue with the apartment and its condition, repair, etc. one is totally out of luck at the Housing Tribunal. Obviously, HK policy is not logical. This of course, is nothing new.

To clarify, some matters are best directed to the LandsTribunal and some matters to the Small Claims Tribunal:

Apart from contractual disputes between landlords andtenants, the Lands Tribunal's jurisdiction also covers the following areas:
(1) applications made by landlords for possession of premises, and
for payments by the tenants of rent, mesne profits and damages;
(2) building management disputes;
(3) compensation payable by the Government to landowners arising
from such matters as the compulsory resumption of land by the Government;
(4) applications made by majority owners of a land for the sale of
the land for redevelopment purposes; and
(5) appeal cases under certain ordinances, such as the Rating
Ordinance, Government Rent (Assessment and Collection) Ordinance and Housing
Ordinance.

The Lands Tribunal, however, does not deal with claims belowHK$50,000. In fact, it usually only considers cases which involve amountsthat significantly exceed HK$50,000. In the Lands Tribunal, legal representationis allowed although not mandatory.

On the other hand, the Small Claims Tribunal (the "SCT")deals with claims for money not exceeding HK$50,000. Although theSCT is a court, the rules and procedures are less strict than in most othercourts, and no legal representation is allowed. The main types of claimshandled by the SCT are debts, service charges, damages to property, goods sold
and consumer claims. However, it does not handle applications forpossession of land/property.

A claimant is not allowed to subdivide a claim which exceedsHK$50,000 to bring it within the jurisdiction of the SCT. However, thereis no rule preventing a claimant from abandoning that part of the claim whichis above HK$50,000 in order to make the claim in the SCT. For aproperty/land-related claim that does not significantly exceed HK$50,000, theclaimant may consider foregoing the portion of the claim which exceeds the
limit and bring the claim in the SCT. The claimant may be able to reapmore monetary benefits by bringing a smaller claim in the SCT due to the legalcost savings.

Weir &Associates
Solicitors &Notaries
16thFloor Tak Shing House
20 Des Voeux RoadCentral
Central
Hong Kong
Tel : 2526-1767
Fax : 2868-3568
Email : WeirLaw@WeirandAssociates.com
www.WeirandAssociates.com