Legal Assistance with Rental Problems

Questioner

I have already moved from Eindhoven to Tilburg. In Eindhoven I lived in a student house. When I left my room there, a housemate moved into my room immediately. My room has therefore been rented out continuously. Now my landlord claims that I am not entitled to the deposit (235 euros) because my roommate's room is now empty. In my opinion, this is not my problem, but my roommate's. After all, I have provided a new occupant of my room, so I am entitled to a return of the deposit. The contract states that I have a notice period of 2 months, but I believe this expires because I made sure that my room was immediately re-rented to a new resident. Am I right here?

Lawyer

This depends on what is stated in your contract. If you each have a separate rental contract for your own student room, you are probably right and the landlord cannot offset your deposit against the lost rental income from the other room (unless there is something about this in your rental contract). However, if you rent the entire living space together (of which both rooms are part), you are each responsible for the entire rental payments to the landlord and he can then use your deposit for unpaid rental income for the other room. The content of your rental contract is decisive. If you want, I can look into this for you without obligation.