Moved into dirty/moldy apartment (sorry its in english)

[AlexFromAbroad]

Dear all,

first of all I would like to excuse myself for talking English. I just moved to the Netherlands for my PhD(Doctorate) and dont know Dutch so well yet. However I already have problems which is why I am writing here. I hope its not a problem and someone will be able to write me back anyways.

My problem is that I just moved into a rented apartment which has many damages which I was not able to see before I moved in. The situation is as follows:

I saw the apartment one time when the owner was not completely moved out yet. It seemed okay to me so i rented the place. Now I moved in and after half a day in the apartment I noticed that many things were filthy, moldy and broken. Here is a small list so you may make yourself an impression.

- There is one small bedroom (out of 3) which smells completely moldy and very bad. There are old water spots on the carpet and when you open the wooden walk in closet, which is in the wall and right behind the bathroom, a stinging smell comes out of it. Also it seems like there are water marks in this closet and the paint is coming out off the walls in there. Also in this room the wallpaper is coming off the walls (it does not stick).

- In the Bathroom and Kitchen the pipes below the sink are broken, water is dripping from them and both, bathroom cabinet and the working plate in the kitchen are full of black mold.

- Additionally the kitchen is completely dirty and filthy, not cleaned at all for a long long time.

- Also I am not able to use any of the closets which are built in the walls, because the have a similar moldy smell inside and I do not feel good putting my clothes inside.

- Last but not least there is a room in which the owner smoked heavily. Normally I would say that this only has to be painted but as it looks like the nikotine on the walls and basically everything which is inside this room is so thick that I am almost certain that cleaning this room would cost a lot of money and would possibly even have to be entirely renovated.

Now I am struggling with my new apartment and am trying to find out what to do and how to make this place livable. My question is what rights I have in this case? Do I possibly even have the right to end the contract beforehand?

best wishes and thank you very much in advance!
Alex

Ps.: I am hoping my English is okay (you may also write back in Dutch if you want). I understand I think.

[dr.dunno]

Hi Alex,

Sounds like a simple matter of misrepresentation. You could exercise various rights to try to force your landlord to fix the problems, including having the rent reduced by up to 80% for so-called category A deficiencies, however that will not solve your immediate problem, especially if the landlord is unwilling. Asking the 'huurcommissie' to intervene might speed up things; the landlord is legally required to follow their judgement.
http://www.huurcommissie.nl/

computer translation (for reference only, you should call them):
http://translate.google.nl/translate?sl=nl&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.huurcommissie.nl%2F

Furthermore you may have already paid money to this guy. You should ask for a full refund.

Of course you could also go to court etc. however this will not solve your immediate problems. I recommend that you try to find another place to stay immediately.
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Catapultum habeo. Isi pecuniam omnem mihi dabis, ad caput tuum saxum immane!

[AlexFromAbroad]

thank you very much for your answer. I am already in contact with them and proposed to have an agreement. I proposed to be able to move out right away before the period i am bound to in case they do not want to fix the problem. Which I hope he will agree on because the repairments could be very costly for him, he wants to sell the apartment anyways and my contract is only bound for 6 months after which i can move out.
This would be a good way for me to get out of the contract fast or is there any other way i could do that? Could I just leave and stop paying for example?
Also I was thinking about reducing the rent until i found a new place. What would be an appropriate percentage for that? I was thinking about 20% but now you mentioned 80%. What else can I demand from the landlord. Is it elligible to let him pay my next moving costs?

best wishes and thank you very much,
Alex

[svdongen]

[AlexFromAbroad]

Thanks a lot! Is there something where i can maybe look up how much i can have the rent reduced for what kind of definiencies? You mentioned 80%, which would be very nice indeed, but in the end I would like to have reasonable demands as well.

best,
Alex

[DENNIS79]

[dr.dunno]

In addition to what has already been said in earlier posts, as a medical professional I would like to note that from a medical standpoint I strongly recommend that you terminate your stay in this apartment effective immediately, as mold in general is a severe health hazard and could lead to e.g. treatment-resistant cases of pneumonia due to the contaminated air in small spaces without proper ventilation. Take a hostel or hotel or stay with some friends and then sort out the problems, do not risk your health over this.

Legally you would be within your rights to claim your damages, but you should not wait for this all to be concluded (which might take a while).
_________________
Catapultum habeo. Isi pecuniam omnem mihi dabis, ad caput tuum saxum immane!