vinodkumarkg
Hello all,
I recently booked an apartment for rent by paying a booking amount of 1000 Dhs and at the same time the real estate broker insisted me to pay 5% of annual rent as his commission, which is big money for me. Somehow I managed to pay that also, but unfortunately, i could not sign the rental contract for the apartment. The real estate company informed that i will loose the booking amount of 1000 dhs. The broker is not ready to pay back the 5% commission he took from me ( i have a receipt he has given ) . Looks strange. I have to pay commission for the flat i did not took for rent !
Experts, i need some help to take this forward against that guy and get my money back ( the amount is 3000 dhs and its a very good money for me and i cant think of loosing it) please suggest me your ideas to get the money back.
Thanks in advance
Concord
- vinodkumarkg wrote:
Hello all,
I recently booked an apartment for rent by paying a booking amount of 1000 Dhs and at the same time the real estate broker insisted me to pay 5% of annual rent as his commission, which is big money for me. Somehow I managed to pay that also, but unfortunately, i could not sign the rental contract for the apartment. The real estate company informed that i will loose the booking amount of 1000 dhs. The broker is not ready to pay back the 5% commission he took from me ( i have a receipt he has given ) . Looks strange. I have to pay commission for the flat i did not took for rent !
Experts, i need some help to take this forward against that guy and get my money back ( the amount is 3000 dhs and its a very good money for me and i cant think of loosing it) please suggest me your ideas to get the money back.
Thanks in advance
Your thread request "legal advice, etc.". Please note that a forum is not the place to seek legal advice. You need a
competent lawyer for that (you cannot rely on "advice" from an annonymous person on any forum).
Nevertheless, an in no way giving legal advice to you, it would depend on what was agreed. It may be that you agreed to rent an apartment and now want to back-out of it after the broker did his/her work (and thus earned the commission). Speicially if all that is needed is your signature. In such case you may have a problem getting your money back. If on the other hand, the apartment is no longer available, the circumstances have changed (different rent, etc.) or the landlord will not sign the lease then you should get your money back.
If the "broker" is simply keeping the money because he/she wants to take advantage of you then you can always go to the police and explain the situation. The police will probably not get involved but if they do you have a better chance of getting your money back.
The problem with small amount disputes (3,000 dhs - although not small for you) is that the other party knows that it would cost you money to get the money back (paying a lawyer, taking days off from work, etc.). And if you do not have the money to hire professional help the broker will take advantage of you (specially if you already told the person "please return my money as I do not have any more money to rent the apt, etc. etc.").
If the person flatly refuses to give you the money, just go to the authorities (once he/she has refused to give you the money you don't have anything to lose).
Good luck and make sure to tell others about your situation - be mindful of slander however.
fayz
If you didn't sign the rental contract but you paid commission that seems a bit odd, from my personal experience and from what I've seen of others, normally you pay the commission with the 1st instalment of rent which would be at the signing of the contract.
I'm guessing you decided not to take the apartment due to a better offer elsewhere or financing issues? Usually deposits are lost as what happened to you, that makes sense but the commission I don’t think should be?
Is there any fine print on the receipt, something saying refundable or non-refundable?
It is a lot of money I hope it works out for you and you have some recourse. I don’t know anyone who has had this type of experience so really can’t offer any suggestions but good luck. Please keep this thread updated on your progress.
Also one favour, can you post a topic only once, 3 times is a bit much and it creates clutter.
fayz
opps, got pulled away from the pc in the middle of responding and concs beat me to the post :)
Concord
- fayz wrote:
opps, got pulled away from the pc in the middle of responding and concs beat me to the post :)
I figure you were just pulling a "Sage" 8)
fayz
nah a sage would be .............
'what currency is your deposit' followed by a :wink:
actually another sagism might be.
Go to the legal rent deposit return store in Karama
vinodkumarkg
Thank you for giving me some good inputs. I just came to Dubai and didn't know about all these things. I had to rent an apartment soon and planning to bring the family soon. I told the broker that my visa is not ready and cheque books are not ready. He pressurized me and gave me two weeks time to sign the contract. I was thinking of getting the resident visa and bank account and cheque books within 2 weeks. But some how i did not happen and I informed this guy. He told me he can't wait more and I will loose money what I paid. Later on the real estate company called me and asked me to confirm the booking and i was not in a position to confirm that , they told that they are cancelling the booking and i will loose the 1000 dhs i paid as booking amount. Loosing 1000 dhs is okay for me, but I am just wondering why the broker took 3000 dhs from me as commission fro the apartment which i did not took !!
The receipt that guy issued tells that booking amount/ commision is not refundable.
How much helpful will be police in this case? Can i directly call the police and seek help? what number to call. Please reply if anybody has some advice.
sage & onion
- fayz wrote:
nah a sage would be .............
'what currency is your deposit' followed by a :wink:
actually another sagism might be.
Go to the legal rent deposit return store in Karama
I have read all of your legal advice and am really wondering why you are mentioning my name in any of this!!!
fayz
hahaha, all in good fun.
i always thought the legal advice place was right next door to the second hand golf ball store. :lol: :lol:
We all have our favourite sageisms :)
Concord
- fayz wrote:
nah a sage would be .............
'what currency is your deposit' followed by a :wink:
LOL, rough day - needed that.
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