Hi All,

First time poster on the forum 😊

My lease is up on my apartment and in accordance with my contract I have given notice to my Estate agents.
They explained that out of the 2 months deposit I gave them, the 1st amount will cover my last months rent and the 2nd will be paid back to me when my lease is up.

The issue I have is that my Estate Agent has informed me that after an inspection of the property, she will then need to file a reoprt to the owners and then my deposit will be returned to me via bank transfer, she approximated the time for this to be 7 days.
i.e. 7 days after I have left the apartment (back to the UK incidentally which compounds my worries).

She informed me of this by stating;
“The deposit can not be returned until a report that I do has been signed by the owner which usually takes 7 days We can transfer to a UK bank account if you have one or transfer to your Spanish account.”

I suggested the following;
“If you wish to conduct your report 7 days prior to the 15th, then submit your report, this is completely acceptable; however, I would like the deposit in cash, not via bank transfer. If you are worried about any incidents happening to the detriment of the apartment after your report 7 days prior, then I would suggest a final inspection before reciept of the keys and deposit is handed over would be a satisfactory compromise.”

She replied with;
“Sorry I can not check the apartment until the last day and I have to have the keys back before any deposits can be released along with the report signed by the owner”

Now, perhaps this is all completely normal and I worrying uneccessarily and if so, please let me know and I will proceed as the Estate agent wishes, but if this is something of a cause for concern regarding having my deposit returned, could someone let me know and also if there is any Spanish laws in relation to this that may help me decide on the best course of action?

Thank you so much in advance.

What does the lease say? Having said that, the estate agent’s procedure seems to be perfectly normal and reasonable.

It simply says that the deposit will be returned upon termination of the contract - no further details than this.

Thanks for your reply, I wasn’t sure if I was being over cautious, but I have heard so many stories about people struggling to get their deposit back.

Thanks again.

although it seems perfectly reasonable I would like to know the following.

was an inspection/inventory done/signed prior to you taking posession of the property?

I assume these conditions were stated in the rental contract?

No, all it says in the rental contract is that the deposit will be refunded when the contract is terminated and the inventory is done.

An inspection and inventory were done prior to us renting the property and I have no issue with this being completed again, my doubt about the whole thing is the 7 day wait after we have moved out and inventory and inspection is completed.

Thank you for your reply.

I rented in Spain for 7 years and never had to wait for my deposit.Agent /landlord came round on the leaving date did inspection and returned deposit there and then.There are a lot of dodgy people in Spain,if it was me i would not give back the keys until you have deposit in your hand.
Did you pay for the deposit in cash?

Yes paid in cash, which is why I was concerned that I would not be receiving the deposit back in the same way. Plus the 7 day wait seems excessive…
Thank you for your reply.

Paid in cash then insist on cash back,in my experience of Spain do not leave without your money back.

pepsi - 25 December 2009 12:31 AM

I rented in Spain for 7 years and never had to wait for my deposit.Agent /landlord came round on the leaving date did inspection and returned deposit there and then.There are a lot of dodgy people in Spain,if it was me i would not give back the keys until you have deposit in your hand.
Did you pay for the deposit in cash?

In a perfect world, yes, ask for cash, but that is not how it works usually. I would always recommend paying via a bank. There may be a lot of dodgy people in Spain (unfortunately most of them are british) but in most cases, with reputable companies, the repayments are done via bank transfer. The return of cash at an inspection is usually the case for holiday lets.

If the agent has enough notice,in this case the end vof a contract there is no reason why cash can not be insisted on as they are leaving the country.And no it is not just holiday let that are paid in cash it is long term lets as well.

shaggymon - 25 December 2009 04:21 AM

The return of cash at an inspection is usually the case for holiday lets.

I don’t recall saying it was never for long term lets. It is just less likely.