Landlord not repaying deposit
I moved out of a property on 30 July 2017. As per my lease agreement, my deposit was due in full within 14 days of handing over the keys. (Handover was done in person. No damages claimed etc.) Since then I have been begging for my deposit back. Endless excuses of car accidents, being sick, wifes sick etc. Eventually I received a part of my deposit back and since then have not received the balance even when promised by certain dates. I would like to issue a Letter of Demand and then lodge a claim via the Small Claims Court. However, I do not have the address of the landlord other than the property I was renting from him. He does not live there and has another tenant renting. How do i get the Letter of Demand to him if I do not have an address where he resides? I have contact email/number and banking details.
Category: Property, Rental and Housing Tribunal
Region: South Africa, Gauteng
1 Answer
A letter of demand via email will do. Some email service providers will indicate if it has been read. Otherwise you will have to google for a tracing agent.
Nevertheless a letter of demand is not mandatory for you to institute a claim. You can simply go to the small claims court, in which case you will have to trace him in order to serve a summons. It’s jurusdiction is any amount up to 15000 rand.
Also note that you are entitled to interest on the deposit over the lease period, and the period of time he has unlawfully kept your deposit.
All the best.
You are not only entitled to your deposit but also interests on the deposit. The Rental Housing Act requires property owners(landlords and landladies) to invest tenant deposits into interest yielding investment account. Nothing stops you from claiming interest amount in your Letter of Demand. You can serve demand letter by email. I will also suggest you consider lodging same with the Rental Housing Tribunal. They are known to have effective mechanism in place in this regard. You can google search their contacts.