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Problem with landlord
Hello all,
I am experiencing a problem with my landlord and would appreciate any advice you might have.
I was renting an appartemeny since 2011 when I moved to Brussels (October 2011). I had a one-year contract renewed twice. In June I decided to move out so I sent an e-mail to my landlord telling him that I would like to move out end of August (one month earlier than the end of the contract) and in that case I would search for a new tenant but if noone can be found I am leaving anyway end of September. He replied ok and then one month later when I returned from holidays I asked a meeting with him to give me the details of the apartment for the ad. There he started saying that I did not notify him on time and that I had to pay 3 months rent if I wanted to leave the apartment. For him my e-mail had no legal value.
After a lot of search I found out that the contract was not registered so I left end of August. I sent him a letter in which I had no reply and then an e-mail again in which he replied and asked to have a meeting.
I went to my old apartment and there he told me that I broke my contract. I again asked him if he had registered the contract. He said yes and when I asked him to see it he was making excuses. I told him that we can meet again when he has the proof. Then he asked me to sign a few papers. He said they were for the meters. I told him that I will take the papers, check them, sign them and then send them by post back to him. He then took yhe papers back and send me away. We did not inspect the apartment together. When I told him that and about the guarantee he just asked me to leave. He told me he has no time anymore to sign for the guarantee.
Is there any services or lawyers that might help me? It is quite urgent. Thank you in advance!
Try: http://www.blbe.be/en/contact see here what they do: http://www.blbe.be/en/origin-and-tasks
http://www.blbe.be/en/registering-lease: "Failure to register gives the tenant the right to end the lease at any time, without giving prior notice or paying any penalty."
On saying that, you should still have sent a registered letter informing the owner.
Good luck
You had two consecutive one-year contracts which don't have to be registered but still need three* clear calendar months notice (normally given by registered letter) in order to determine them. If you hadn't left, the contract would automatically have become a standard (in effect 9 year) contract at the end of two years, but you did leave and you gave neither adequate nor proper notice and in consequence the landlord is indeed entitled to compensation.
*Unless a lesser term was specified in the contract which is unlikely.
> June I decided to move out so I sent an e-mail to my landlord telling him that I would like to move out ... He replied ok.
The courts will accept that as him having been given notice, and the email he sent back confirms that he both received the notice and accepted it.
That is 3 months notice (July, August, September)
A short term contract can be renewed twice and for a maximum of 3 years, so this is still a short term contract and has not reverted to a long term 9-year contract.
You do need to read the contract and see what notice applies
It is not a contract that needs to be registered (assuming Bécasse is right on that point)
> He said yes and when I asked him to see it he was making excuses.
Well, he therefore know jack about the legal aspects of the situation as well.
> We did not inspect the apartment together.
I'm afraid you've made a mess of this. Consider very carefully how much a lawyer will cost vs. how much you expect you might get back.
Sorry, I misunderstood the bit about renewing the contract twice because you can't renew a one year contract twice, on the second renewal it automatically becomes a nine-year contract which would end (but still need to be determined) at the end of September 2020, not September 2014. Strictly speaking the lease HAD to be registered at the point where it became a nine-year contract although I suspect that in practice the registering of leases which roll over into nine-year ones is a bit of a grey area.
If you gave notice to your landlord during June, only TWO months (July and August) had passed when you moved out at the end of August, instead of the standard three, and, additionally, as you were still in the third year of what was now a nine-year-contract, a penalty of one month's rent was also due to the landlord in addition to the rent due for September.
Of course, a juge de paix might rule that you were entitled to leave without notice or penalty because the lease hadn't been registered, but I wouldn't count on it, especially as you did actually give notice which was acknowledged but that notice was insufficient by a month. You would be on firmer ground if your original contract had specified a two months notice period, but I suspect that it was silent on that point and therefore the three months norm applied.
