Hi, Does anyone know what penalties there are ( if any) if a landlord does not return your tenancy security deposit within two months of your departure?
Hi Rebecca. I can't help you with this problem unfortunately, but I notice you've already started a discussion on this back in September. You can find all your discussions and your replies to others directly from your own page. There have been a number of members who have posted on this topic. Here's a couple of links for you:
http://www.survivefrance.com/forum/topics/renting-out-property-in-france
Hi there–did you ever get an answer to this question? I’ve got the same one! Thanks!
Hi Helen…has anyone messaged you with any information ??
Have you sent the Landlord a letter (with proof of delivery)… asking for your Deposit?
Were there any outstanding sums he could have used the deposit for… ??
Does he definitely have your new address …??
Dear Stella,
Thank you for being so kind as to reply! I have sent a few emails, and he has replied to one but not the last two. However, I have not sent a formal letter (I am currently in the U.S., though of course could do this). It has been nearly three months since I moved out. Everything was in excellent shape; I now wonder if my landlord has simply decided to keep my deposit as he knows I’m in the U.S. (and will have difficulty doing anything about it!). He told me three months ago that he would have to wait to find out what my tax d’habitation was and pay that before refunding the deposit (I assumed I would get the bill for that, not him, but I don’t know - I was only in France for a year, and there is much that confuses me!). I do know, however, that the tax d’habitation charges were assessed in October.
Please don’t take too much time with this, but do you happen to know who I should contact (the property is in Nice) to help with the situation?
Thanks again,
Helen
In many regions the taxe d’habitation bills for résidences secondaires come out a month later than the bills for résidences principales. I just checked back, and my avis for tdh on a résidence secondaire arrived on 10th November (that was online, so avis sent by post would presumably arrive some time later). Presumably you didn’t submit a tax return this year, so the house/apartment you tenanted would be classed as a résidence secondaire. Do you know for a fact that this particular avis was sent in October? If not, then your landlord may only just have received it, and since he did explain that he was going to wait for the taxe d’hab bill, he may feel you’ve been hassling him prematurely. If your emails were sent before the avis arrived he may not have replied simply because he had nothing new to add. If that’s the case I don’t think you have a “situation” yet, but he should be dealing with it now and hopefully you’ll receive your deposit very soon. I think you need to give it another couple of weeks before you can call it a “situation”.
Dear Anna,
Thank you so much for your explanation. Your information on the later date of the tax d’habitation is extremely helpful, and I agree that my landlord may feel I am being impatient. I will wait as you suggest.
Really, it’s very kind of you to take the time to explain, and I think you for putting my mind at ease.
All the best,
Helen