HAPPY HOUSES ARE ****** AND ********* BUSINESS PEOPLE

I rented a place from a real estate company called Happy Houses and I was very unfairly treated during the period of the lease agreement. The name of the agent I was dealing with is called Ade Ibrahim and it looks like he is running this *****ed business with his wife. He is so ********* and dishonest its actually shocking.

The first incident which raised red flags for me was when we had no electricity in my unit despite other units having electricity and we were able to verify that none of the appliances in the house tripped the plug. He gave me the run around and eventually told me that I need to call Impact meters to sort out the power issue. I was taken aback by this because I am a mere tenant so they should be the ones calling Impact meters and getting the issue sorted. Eventually he did call an electrician after I insisted that he does and he told me that I would be responsible for the call out fee. When the electrician arrived, they informed us that the power is probably tripped in the outside box and only Impact meters can fix that. I then called Impact meters and they did establish that the power had tripped in the outside box and they sorted that out. I was then told by this very same Ade that I will be liable for the call out fee for the electrician. Why was I being made to pay for a callout fee of an electrician when they should be responsible for any issues that arise in the unit provided that they are not due to negligence. I paid that R650 and tendered my notice to cancel the lease because I felt very upset about this incident.

When I moved out, I painted the unit and made sure that I leave it as clean as I possibly can. When the move out inspection occurred, I was told that I need to replace the kitchen sink mixer because it is dripping. Strange enough I did not find it new when I moved it so I would have expected that they will replace it because the dripping was a result of normal wear and tear and not any negligence. I was also told to fix a cracked window in the lounge and I fixed it and replaced the sink mixer despite feeling like I should not have been made to replace the sink mixer. Those were the only two items that were brought to my attention during the move out inspection.

When the time came for this agency to refund my deposit, I was told that they would deduct R1500 from my deposit which was a cleaning fee for paint marks that they supposedly found after the painting was done. Mind you, this agent was there to do a move out inspection after the painting was done and he never once brought to my attention any paint marks. The only paint marks which were there were old and did not even match the paint on the walls but they were not noted during the move out inspection. Suddenly a month after I moved out, I am made to pay a whopping R1500 which is supposedly a cleaning fee. Mind you I am in communication with the new tenant and she also confirmed that when she moved in there were old paint marks which didn't match the paint on the walls and she said they have not been cleaned since she moved in. So its evident that these people merely just made up these paint marks and took money from my deposit without authorization. I asked them for pictures of these so-called marks as well as an invoice which shows that someone was really paid R1500 to clean these marks but I have not received any response from them.

All I want to do is warn people not to do business with this ***** named Ade Ibrahim who works for Happy Houses. I actually suspect that its his company because only himself and his wife named Shadi Neshat are on the company profile. I intend to report them to the rental housing tribunal and also take them to the small claims court because what they are doing is theft.