Assistance with reclaiming mediation costs

Questioner

Dear Sir or Madam, In the past five years I have twice paid brokerage fees for private rental properties. In both cases it was an amount of one month's rent. This remains unjustified and I am trying to reclaim the amounts. However, one of the two brokers in question responded with a letter that is legally invalid and the other does not respond at all. I had been to the legal aid office and they referred me to a lawyer, but there are significant costs involved. I am aware of the abundance of case law on similar matters and would like to investigate it myself, but I have no experience in writing legal letters. Where can I find a sample letter that already mentions the case law and laws applicable to this rather common issue?

Lawyer

Depending on your income, you may be eligible for legal aid. If the Legal Desk has not informed you of this, you will then only owe an income-related personal contribution to the lawyer. The lawyer's fees will then be paid by the government. I can then help you further with drawing up a letter to the brokers and, if necessary, starting legal proceedings if the repayment of the brokerage fees is not forthcoming.

Lawyer

We can help you with this by starting a procedure on your behalf. We can make an agreement about the costs and you can pay in installments.

Lawyer

Firstly, it is very important to explicitly interrupt the limitation period, especially in the oldest case (the limitation period is 5 years). Rental law is my specialization, and I am happy to help you with this. I have made many letters / summonses for this and they can therefore be drawn up quickly. So it does not have to be expensive. You can do a lot yourself in advance and afterwards to save costs (e.g. only go to the hearing). Please feel free to contact me for a no-obligation consultation. Below is some general information and legal arguments. Brokerage costs cannot be claimed from the tenant if the broker is in fact acting for the landlord. The same applies if he - whether or not via devious means - did receive an order from the tenant, but at the same time mediated pursuant to a rental agreement with one or more landlords who are looking for tenants for their vacant homes. Because the broker can only offer homes if they have been offered by a landlord, the landlord is therefore the client for the search for a tenant. It follows from this that it is unreasonable to make the tenant pay for this (as well). Tenants who have paid brokerage costs can therefore claim these back as undue costs. Two legal regulations play a major role here: Articles 264 and 417 of Book 7 of the Civil Code. Both articles are mandatory law. This means that the law always takes precedence over agreements. Contract is contract therefore does not apply.

Lawyer

My experience with these kinds of cases is that brokers are quite persistent and do not give in quickly. Because there is a risk that the costs will exceed the benefits, it is now important to 1) stop both claims and to engage good, but relatively affordable legal assistance, or to request legal aid.