Tips
Sadly, a very few housing agencies are trying to rip-off (international) students. At the beginning of your contract, most of the times you’ll have to pay a deposit. Normally, they will return this deposit when nothing is broken or missing from your room/apartment. However, we have heard some problems concerning this over the last years. In some cases, the housing agency falsely decides to keep your deposit because something is ‘broken’ or ‘missing’ and they have to fix it and/or replace it. The mere fact for them to do this, is that you have, most likely, returned to your home country. This makes it very difficult for you to prove that they are wrong. Though, there are some things you can do to prevent this (and other problems with housing agencies) from happening!
- Take pictures when you are entering your room for the first time. Make sure to document everything that is already broken/missing, and report this to your housing agency. This way, you cannot be charged for anything that was already broken/missing. (Do not send these pictures in case nothing is broken or missing!)
- Take pictures when you are leaving your room for the last time. Again, make sure to document everything that is broken/missing, and report this to your housing agency. When you do so, they cannot falsely charge you for things that aren’t broken/missing at all.
- In case the housing agency do charge you for things that aren’t broken/missing, send them the pictures that support your position. Let them know you disagree with their decision and demand the return of your entire deposit fee.
- When the housing agency does not respond to your mailings, keep sending them emails every day. The more you harass them, the higher the chance they will respond to your complaints.
- If possible, step by their office when they are not responding to your emails. If you aren’t able to do so yourself (for instance when you have returned to your home country), ask someone to do so on your behalf. Your ESN mentor/amigo/buddy are here to help you!
- In the case that your accomodation does not include internet, this extensive guide is a great tool in helping you figure out what provider to go with and gives you an overview of all of the options available to you.
We want to stress that these practices are not common in Tilburg. Our housing partners have been proven to be very reliable and just. These tips however, do protect you from any injustices so keep them in mind and use them correctly