She wasn’t initially concerned about whether she was paying too much for her room in Utrecht. She was studying physiotherapy, leading a busy life, and was happy to have found a room just a 15-minute bike ride from the city center. It was a spacious room, 28 square meters, for which she paid nearly 600 euros per month.
The amount consisted of rent and service charges. After living there for three years, a few things in the house broke down, and they were not repaired. She wondered, “Why am I paying service charges if this service is not being provided?”
Friends had previously mentioned the Huur Team to her. She knew that if you needed help as a tenant, you could turn to them. So that’s what she did. An employee from the Huur Team inspected her room and the common facilities. The conclusion was that the rent was fine, but the service charges were much too high.
So, she initiated a case against the landlord. How did he react? “He wasn’t happy.” It even led to an unpleasant confrontation at one point. “The landlord behaved aggressively and used racist language.” He had to accept the Renting Commission’s decision and repay her the overpaid service charges from the past two years. “Yes, it was a substantial amount.”
Did you know that your landlord can only charge the actual service costs and cannot make a profit on them?
You can have your service charges checked for free by the Renting Team. This can potentially result in getting up to 2.5 years’ worth of service charges refunded!