Renico Property & Industrial Holdings | Withholding Deposit Interest Owed to Tenants

I’m writing to share my frustrating and disappointing experience with Renico regarding the interest earned on a deposit I paid in 2017/2018, which has never been refunded.

During my tenancy, the lease account was transferred from one tenant to another at least two or three times, and Renico simply transferred the deposit each time to the new lease account holder, no questions asked. In 2023, the lease account was transferred to me again, without any issues or clarifications from Renico.

When I moved out recently, I served my notice four working days late. Despite being a tenant there for eight years, Renico insisted on penalizing me for the late notice with a full month’s rent. When I questioned the penalty, Marcell Steyn initially referenced a clause that only applies to fixed-term contracts. When I pointed out that I was on a month-to-month lease, they then pointed to another clause saying a penalty still applies, although it didn’t specify the amount. It seems they decide what to charge you based on what suits them at the time.

Renico also charged me for repairs, even though no inspection was done when I moved in, which they know. They did an inspection only when I moved out, and I was charged for those repairs.

When I remembered that interest is supposed to be paid on the deposit, I asked them to include it to offset the R2,000+ they claimed I still owed. After several follow-ups, Renico finally sent me a screenshot of an Excel spreadsheet showing they had manually calculated 4% interest for the short period I was the lease account holder. They claimed they only owe me just over R300 because the interest “only” applies to the period I held the lease account.

They refused to pay the interest earned during the years when the deposit was in the previous tenants’ names, even though they transferred the deposit each time without paying out the interest or disclosing that it even existed. It appears they simply kept that interest for themselves, despite it rightfully belonging to the tenants.

I’ve looped the previous lease account holders into my emails so Renico can no longer ignore them. Shockingly, Renico is now ignoring the other account holders’ rightful claims to this interest.

I strongly encourage anyone who has stayed in a Renico property to check if they ever received their deposit back with interest. If not, ask for it. Your deposit was invested and earned interest, which Renico seems to keep for themselves unless you demand it.

This lack of transparency and refusal to pay out the interest will be part of a formal complaint I’ve lodged. I’ll also be sharing this on social media so that more former tenants are aware and can demand what’s owed to them.

Tenants deserve fair treatment and transparency, especially when it comes to their own money.