***lin estates - Extremely ******* - you will not get your deposit back

On 01 September 2022 I moved into a property I rented from Zelda Swart through ***lin Estate Agent. The agent representing ***lin was Eugene Naidoo. Eugene advised that the property was behind on fees and requested a huge 2x rent as deposit. I paid a deposit of R1600, rent of R8000 and an administration fee of about R1000.

PRE-EXISTING DAMAGES TO THE PROPRTY Eugege and I did the pre-inspection and there were pre-existing damages. Eugene has the pictures of the damages but has not provided the pictures. Instead ***lin has charged me for the pre-existing damages. I misunderstood the appointment for inspection before moving out, That misunderstanding does not negate the fact that there were pre-existing damages. I also have pictures of the pre-existing damages and I have communication to ***lin Repairs detailing the defects at the property while I was staying there. I still have the pictures, WhatsApp and emails. ***lin never denied the defecfs as I reported them.

UNJUSTIFIED ENRICHMENT AND EXTENDED LOSS When I was meant to move in Eugene failed to hand over the keys and I was without a place to stay after paying the deposit and rent. When he handed over the keys the property did not have electricity and was therefore unusable. I had to find an alternative place to stay the two nights and pay for it. ***lin, Eugene and Zelda never sought to do right by me on the financial loss caused by them.

THE DRAMA Soon after moving in the drama started. The plumbing was faulty and the shower was not working well. By the time I moved out a year later they had not replaced the shower head. The plumber who was appointed by ***lin pointed out the poor workmanship that led to the problem. It took a number of weeks for Zelda to approve the repairs and it led to inconvenience for me and my family. It was clear that this was to be our experience for the rental period.

The stove became the next problem. My wife expected the worst from ***lin and Zelda and asked me to fix the stove myself. I knew this could cause problems later and I advised ***lin of my intention. They failed to see the that this was to their advantage and they referred to to the rules, They still did not fix the stove for many weeks. When they finally understood my intention, Repairs at ***lin phoned me to approve my intention to fix the stove myself. Note that they avoided paper trail.

As I was not pleased with the service I withheld rent for a few days for a specific month. I think it was around February 2023. Renting at ***lin charged me a penalty for late payment. I refused to pay it and they increased the penalty.

Later on the stove damages indicated that there was a bigger electricity problem. The solution called for a two-pronged approach: I had my electrician in the house to fix the stove and they had two gentlemen to fix defects in the DV box. The gentlemen were Solo and the guy who fixed the plumbing earlier. Solo advised me that he fixed the same DV box before I rented from ***lin. He pointed to new problems in the connections in the DV box and a burnt circuit breaker. This was quite concerning to me as it could possibly cause a fire and put my family in danger.

After the electrical and stove repairs all was well; but only for a short period. The plates on the stove stopped working again. ***lin appointed a new electrician. He told me the stove was old and that he would advise that the stove be changed. They clearly did not take his advise as they called in the electrician/plumber to check. I don't think it ever got fixed this time as I know we used a the gas stove for cooking. By the time I left the stove was not working, This simply indicates the extent and number of electrical/stove related problems and poor efforts to fix the stove on ***lin's side.

This is a summary of the poor experience. There is a lot of communication regarding the poor experience at the hands of ***lin estates. There are multiple emails to Eugene Naidoo, Janet Hood, Janene Ellerbeck, Salome Alberts. None of them have been of any help.

After I moved out the deposit of R16000 with interest became R13000. Which branch of Mathematics can explain this negative growth? From the decreased amount they deducted R3500 for Municipal Services, R1250 for repairs where most of the damages were pre-existing damages and R700 for cleaning.

I took the matter to the Gauteng Rental Housing Tribunal and we agreed that ***lin must avail the bank statement to reveal the new balance and the interest on the R16000. He has held back and the Gauteng Rental Housing Tribunal has failed to hold them accountable. The contact person at the Gauteng Rental Housing Tribunal is Joshua Mahlangu.

It is clear from the the other reviews on ***lin that there are people who feel aggrieved by ***lin estates. It is now clear to me that ***lin are a bunch of *******. The question is: Why is Gauteng Rental Housing Tribunal failing to penalise them?