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New Law : Blocked Money (urgent any idea)
Hi,
I have taken an unfurnished apartment for 3 years. But due to unforeseen
reasons i need to break my rental contract.
As per my understanding i will need to pay up the deposit amount which is currently in the form of a Blocked account in a Bank.
I heard that there is a new law which has been passed recently which
states that "At the end of the lease period the Bank will give back the money to the tenant ? Is this true ?"
If yes is it also applicable to old contracts ?
I am asking this because i think my owner is cheating me w.r.t Gas and Elec bills and hence i would not like him to have the deposit money.
Both you and the landlord have to sign off before anybody sees the deposit money, the bank wont give you the money back without both signatures.
The landlord is likely to bill you for any reason he can think of fair or not so I wouldn't trust on getting your deposit back at all without a fight.
Also why don't you get to see any of the bills?
I wouldn't of got into a situation of paying for something without seeing the bills or at least meter readings.
Also the deposit will be separate from whatever the penalty you have to pay for breaking the lease.
Generally if you are moving due to a change of job elsewhere as long as you give notice there is no penalty, but that may or may not apply to you.
I do hope you have a break clause in there. Often, fixed contacts do not have such a clause, which could mean that you find yourself in a position whereby you end up having to pay the full 3 years.
You are looking at 3 months notice + 3 months penalty anyway, and until that is paid, the landlord will not sign the deposit release. You cannot use the deposit as rent payment in lieu.
Before you do anything else, read your contract very carefully. As J says, the general principle is that rental contracts of a duration of three years or less cannot be broken for ANY reason neither by the tenant nor the landlord.
The tenant and landlord are then free to have terms different than the general ones. If so, these should be clearly marked in the contract, and the contract should specify how much notice you should give, and how much penalty you have to pay if you break a three-year contract early.
If no such exceptions are mentioned in the contract, the landlord is in principle legally allowed to demand that you pay rent for the entire three-year period. In practice, the courts normally side with the tenant in such cases (especially if you have a good reason to break the contract) and will let you off with a penalty of three months. But if the landlord refuses to budge, you will need to go to court.
There has been no recent cases in the law; the release of the blocked bank deposit still needs the agreement of both the tenant and the landlord.
