Home owners pay price for dubious rental deals
Thinking about renting your home while you travel abroad? Think again. JOEP DERKSEN uncovers the devastating damage home owners pay when rental agencies fail them.
Leaving your home country to set up a new life overseas is a dream come true for many. Improving your career, making new friends and enjoying life to its fullest are all in the cards. And, your old house can be rented out, earning you extra income in the meantime. However, this seemingly harmless decision can be the first step towards years of hardship as every year, thousands of people in the Netherlands fall victim to fraudulent renters and substandard rental agencies. Louise van Haaster moved from the Netherlands to the US a few years ago. Reluctant to sell her home in Holland, she decided to hire a rental agency to locate a suitable tenant during her time abroad. Before long, this search was successful: a man named Roel B. was deemed to have a solid background and he moved into the house.
But Roel B. turned out to be the tenant from hell. His mobile phone number turned out to be false, just like the documents he provided. For months he did not pay the rent. During that time, the house was treated like a pigsty. He bought countless products from shops and companies in the neighbourhood and charged the invoices to Haaster’s house. Because of strict laws that protect the rights of the tenants in the Netherlands, it took Van Haaster many months before she could force Roel B. to leave her home. By that time, her total expenses had skyrocketed to 60,000 euros. Van Haaster holds the rental agency responsible for these damages, but due to the company's stalling tactics, it took almost two years for her to get justice. A court ruled in her favour and the rental agency was convicted of adequately checking the renter's background and credentials.
Van Haaster is not the only victim of these dubious practices. Margot van Overbosch who moved from Etten Leur to Amsterdam had a similar experience with damages that added up to a spectacular 130,000 euros. But for one man, the price of renting his house came at the cost of the home itself. Jos Janssen, moved to the US a few years ago. After he had his house rented out through a rental agency, the place was 4used for growing weed, he found out in 2008. After police raided the premises, all Janssen could do was look at pictures of his old home, which was stripped from floor to ceiling. He too blames the rental agency for his loss. “It happens all too often that home owners become the victims of rental agencies who act carelessly and in a misleading way. The building is then used for embezzlement or growing weed and often rents are not paid.”
Once the authorities discover a home is being used for illegal means, it is the home owner that must face the legal battle that ensues. And if damage is caused, such as a fire started from marijuana cultivation equipment, insurance companies will not cover the expenses. “Home owners therefore run the risk of becoming bankrupt,” says Janssen. There are thousands of companies that help home owners find suitable tenants, but the (handful of) organisations that do not uphold the basic standards of a thorough background check give the sector a bad reputation. Therefore, calls have been made to create a hallmark that sets reputable rental agencies apart. Those that accept new tenants just by looking in their big blue eyes will not be eligible for such a distinction. “We also want to realise a competence profile in 2012,” says Kees Vlaanderen, policy strategist from the Dutch Society for Brokers, NVM. “If this is realised, we can undertake action as soon as consumers become victims. We can place the responsible agency before a disciplinary committee.”
It is an admirable first step, but much more must be done, according to Van Haaster. She wants to see the sector itself establish an independent committee of disputes where both tenants and landlords can go as soon as a problem arises. At the moment, when a rental agency does not take responsibility, the landlord has to fight his own battle. It is their task to get the tenant removed, and because this nearly always involves a legal battle, it is both a long and expensive procedure. “More often than not, the expenses of seeing justice be done are higher than the compensation of the actual damages,” says Van Haaster. “For many people it is therefore not possible to claim their rights in court and because of that, dubious rental agencies constantly get a lucky escape.”
Leaving your home country to set up a new life overseas is a dream come true for many. Improving your career, making new friends and enjoying life to its fullest are all in the cards. And, your old house can be rented out, earning you extra income in the meantime. However, this seemingly harmless decision can be the first step towards years of hardship as every year, thousands of people in the Netherlands fall victim to fraudulent renters and substandard rental agencies. Louise van Haaster moved from the Netherlands to the US a few years ago. Reluctant to sell her home in Holland, she decided to hire a rental agency to locate a suitable tenant during her time abroad. Before long, this search was successful: a man named Roel B. was deemed to have a solid background and he moved into the house.
But Roel B. turned out to be the tenant from hell. His mobile phone number turned out to be false, just like the documents he provided. For months he did not pay the rent. During that time, the house was treated like a pigsty. He bought countless products from shops and companies in the neighbourhood and charged the invoices to Haaster’s house. Because of strict laws that protect the rights of the tenants in the Netherlands, it took Van Haaster many months before she could force Roel B. to leave her home. By that time, her total expenses had skyrocketed to 60,000 euros. Van Haaster holds the rental agency responsible for these damages, but due to the company's stalling tactics, it took almost two years for her to get justice. A court ruled in her favour and the rental agency was convicted of adequately checking the renter's background and credentials.
Van Haaster is not the only victim of these dubious practices. Margot van Overbosch who moved from Etten Leur to Amsterdam had a similar experience with damages that added up to a spectacular 130,000 euros. But for one man, the price of renting his house came at the cost of the home itself. Jos Janssen, moved to the US a few years ago. After he had his house rented out through a rental agency, the place was 4used for growing weed, he found out in 2008. After police raided the premises, all Janssen could do was look at pictures of his old home, which was stripped from floor to ceiling. He too blames the rental agency for his loss. “It happens all too often that home owners become the victims of rental agencies who act carelessly and in a misleading way. The building is then used for embezzlement or growing weed and often rents are not paid.”
Once the authorities discover a home is being used for illegal means, it is the home owner that must face the legal battle that ensues. And if damage is caused, such as a fire started from marijuana cultivation equipment, insurance companies will not cover the expenses. “Home owners therefore run the risk of becoming bankrupt,” says Janssen. There are thousands of companies that help home owners find suitable tenants, but the (handful of) organisations that do not uphold the basic standards of a thorough background check give the sector a bad reputation. Therefore, calls have been made to create a hallmark that sets reputable rental agencies apart. Those that accept new tenants just by looking in their big blue eyes will not be eligible for such a distinction. “We also want to realise a competence profile in 2012,” says Kees Vlaanderen, policy strategist from the Dutch Society for Brokers, NVM. “If this is realised, we can undertake action as soon as consumers become victims. We can place the responsible agency before a disciplinary committee.”
It is an admirable first step, but much more must be done, according to Van Haaster. She wants to see the sector itself establish an independent committee of disputes where both tenants and landlords can go as soon as a problem arises. At the moment, when a rental agency does not take responsibility, the landlord has to fight his own battle. It is their task to get the tenant removed, and because this nearly always involves a legal battle, it is both a long and expensive procedure. “More often than not, the expenses of seeing justice be done are higher than the compensation of the actual damages,” says Van Haaster. “For many people it is therefore not possible to claim their rights in court and because of that, dubious rental agencies constantly get a lucky escape.”
Gepubliceerd in The Holland Times, February edition.
posted by Joep J.B. Derksen @ 7:17 a.m.
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