Rental Problems and Getting Your Deposit Back - Free Advice

Questioner

Dear reader, At the moment we, 2 friends and I, are renting a house from a landlord (since you ask for discretion for now landlord A). We paid a deposit for this house. Now it is the case that landlord A is in financial trouble, which means they have to sell the house. We have provided a buyer (for now landlord B), with whom we can start renting at the time of delivery/purchase. Since this would mean that we would enter into a new lease with landlord B, we would have to get our deposit back from landlord A upon delivery. We, and landlord B, believe that there is no chance that we will get the deposit back. The bank (which now has control over the property) also indicates that it cannot provide any security in this regard. Because we have had creditors on our doorstep several times and have been threatened by telephone, we have investigated the best way to resolve this situation and review our deposit. We have received the following advice: 'Since you have never had a rent arrears where this should be a maximum of 3 months, you can choose not to pay the last month to see if you will get your deposit back upon delivery of the house or in the weeks thereafter. If this is the case, you can still pay the rent, if not, there is a good chance that this will be settled at the notary.' Unfortunately, we do not have sufficient knowledge to determine how best to proceed at this time, which is why we are asking ourselves what is legally possible and what is not. Thank you in advance,

Lawyer

In principle, when the landlord sells your rental property, the rental contract automatically transfers to the new owner and this person becomes the landlord. This also means that this new landlord becomes responsible for the deposit and must transfer this to you when the rental contract is terminated. In principle, it is a matter between the current landlord and the buyer of the property. So they should arrange this among themselves when selling and not you as the tenant. So my advice is to consult with the potential buyer you brought in. If you cannot reach an agreement, you can always contact me.