{"product_id":"vragen-12589-geachte-heer-mevrouw-wij-huren-momenteel-een-woning-in-de-privesector-en-alle-contacten-verlopen","title":"Tenancy law: What to do in case of maintenance problems?","description":"\u003ch4\u003e Questioner\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\n Ir\/Madam,\n\r \nWe are currently renting a privately owned property, and all contact is handled through the rental agent. For example, six weeks ago, I reported that the upstairs toilet (electrically powered) was broken and that the dishwasher no longer works. To date, no technician has been here, despite promises to fix it. I think this is taking too long, especially since we rent the property with these amenities, and the broken upstairs toilet is causing considerable inconvenience, frustration, and odor, especially now that my six-year-old son has to stumble down the stairs every night. Can I deduct an amount from the rent to compensate for the inconvenience?\n\u003ch4\u003e Questioner\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\n\n\r \nNo, that's not yet permitted. In the event of maintenance issues, you must first contact the landlord and the real estate agent (but only the real estate agent if they've been formally appointed as the manager) by registered mail, using a notice of defects letter with a formal demand to remedy the defect within 14 days and to announce what other measures you'll take. If that doesn't work, you can still get the landlord to take action in several ways.\n Below you will find general information about various options. In your case, I think (after the letter of defects), suspending (part of) the rent would be a good way to exert pressure.\n\n - Carry out maintenance or repairs yourself\n - Postpone payment of (part of) rent\n - File a complaint with the municipality\n - Initiate proceedings with the court\n - To the rent assessment committee\n\r \nYou can obtain court authorization to carry out maintenance at the landlord's expense. You can also carry out maintenance or repairs yourself at the landlord's expense without court authorization. In that case, you can reclaim the costs incurred from your landlord or offset them against the rent. The costs must be reasonable. However, you run the risk of being held liable by the landlord for breach of contract.\n\n You can defer rent payment until the landlord has fulfilled their obligations. You can do this without the intervention of a judge, lawyer, Rent Assessment Committee, or municipality. To do so, you send the landlord a letter invoking Article 6:52 or 6:262 (power of suspension) of the Dutch Civil Code. If the landlord has carried out the maintenance work or repairs, you must pay the deferred rent retroactively. If you are considering this step, it is best to seek legal advice beforehand.\n\r \nYou can file a complaint with your municipality about deferred maintenance. Under the Housing Act, the Mayor and Aldermen can then send the landlord a letter (the municipal notice) requesting them to repair the property. If the landlord fails to do so, the municipality can have the work carried out. The landlord will then be responsible for the costs. For more information about this approach, please contact the Building and Housing Supervision Department (or Building and Housing Department) of your municipality.\n\n You can initiate legal proceedings to compel the landlord to repair your property. If the landlord fails to do so, the court will impose a penalty. You can also request the court to partially terminate the lease within six months of sending the notice of defects to the landlord. In that case, you will pay less or no rent until the repairs are completed.\n\r \nYou can request a rent reduction from the Rent Assessment Committee due to defects (not retroactively) until they are resolved. You can also file a complaint with the municipality if there are health or safety concerns (e.g., mold).\n\n You may also be entitled to a rent reduction\/compensation (retroactively). This is stipulated by law in Articles 7:207 and 7:208 of the Dutch Civil Code:\n 7:207 Section 1. In the event of a reduction in enjoyment of the leasehold property due to a defect, the tenant may demand a proportionate reduction in the rent from the day on which he properly notified the landlord of the defect or on which the defect was already sufficiently known to take action, until the day on which the defect was remedied.\r \n7:208. Without prejudice to the consequences of failure to comply with the obligation under Article 206, the lessor is obligated to compensate for damage caused by a defect if the defect arose after the agreement was concluded and is attributable to the lessor, as well as if the defect was present at the time the agreement was concluded and the lessor knew or should have known of it at the time, or informed the lessee at the time that the property did not have the defect.\n\n For assistance, you can contact one of the rental law attorneys here directly, without obligation, for example, via the \"direct contact\" link that you will see in this answer if you are logged in.\n\n I am happy to help you with this.\n\n\n\n","brand":"Rechtswinkel.nl","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56302508147037,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/www.rechtswinkel.nl\/en\/products\/vragen-12589-geachte-heer-mevrouw-wij-huren-momenteel-een-woning-in-de-privesector-en-alle-contacten-verlopen","provider":"Rechtswinkel.nl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}