Trying to get my deposit back!!!

Can anyone help me or tell me were i can go to get help?

I live in madrid in a 1 bed flat which i have been in for 2 and a half years. The flat is in mint condition and we have paid all the rent on time nearly 30grand!. When we arrived we signed a one year contract and paid 3300 euros deposit (3 months) . We always told the land lord we would be staying for 2 and half years. But we stupidly didn't notice the contract keeps rolling over to another year at the end of each year and you have to give an official letter of notice at the end of the year if you don't want  it to roll over again. So, now we have given the one month notice (we thought we were surposed to give) and our land lord is telling us that we are breaking our contract early and that she won't give us back out deposit. Is there anything we can do? If we were to Stay in August and not pay that month rent (a way of reducing the loss) would they be able to enter the flat? (they have a set of keys) it is a clause also in the contract that says they are allowed access to the flat if they give us due notice.

Many thanks in advance.

Claire

Claire:

First of all do try to negotiate as amicably as possible with the landlord.

  It is indeed usual for shorthold tenancies to roll over in the manner you describe.  It might be helpful for you to consult a lawyer as regards the possibility of what could happen should you decide to stay in August and have the deposit applied to that month's rent. 

All the best

Hi Claire

I've never personally seen this clause in a contract before so I assume the landlord added it in to protect himself...or make sure he made some extra money at the end.

To be honest, this could be considered to be an "abusive clause" in which case a nice little letter from a lawyer may make him think twice about pushing through with it.

It is wrong really.  Even on standard contracts you can leave early by giving a month's notice, that's perfectly normal.

You can not pay the rent (that tends to be quite normal too ) and although he is allowed to come round to the property, it is only with your approval.  So you can call the police if he comes round unexpected.

It's a shame really, it sounds like you have always paid the rent, which is really what matters, and now at the end he is going to make it difficult for you.  I don't know why some people are like this.

Anyway, perhaps send a message to Maria de Castro, she is a lawyer who posts on here.  Am sure she will give you some property advice!

Best of luck with it.

Justin

 Best thing you can do is negotiate, unfortunately it is know that this clause exists and that contracts roll over, the landlord can actually ask you to fulfil the contract and pay the remainder of the years rent, therefore you are going to have to negotiate or stay!

Joan

It is not unusual for tenancy agreements to contain a clause which more or less says that the tenancy can be extended for further periods of time (in this case a further year) , but that clause also usually states "by mutual agreement between landlord and tenant".   However, Claire, if you told the landlord (was this in writing?) that you intended to stay for two and a half years, then it would have been best to simply state the start date and end date of the tenancy in the agreement.

I do hope you can get this sorted out.

Patricia

makes me angry that you have paid them 30k and they quibble over the deposit.

tar and feather them