Dodgy owner not refunding a rental deposit

The dodgy owner has promised the deposit on a rental property many times to the agent. The property was not ready as agreed in two months time and he said it would be 7-10 days only needed to complete basic agreed work. The agent used the usual standard type of contract and it did not mention the basic work, just the moving in date etc. But after travelling hundreds of kms to the agents office in Alicante province (not that far from Quesada) to view the work and get the keys it was not cleaned to move in and none of the work had been completed at all. Which resulted in us not able to move in and had to cancel our removal vans promptly and have it all stored. The agent had not checked the property was ready and said the owner was going to send him photos of the completed work which he never did. The owner is a representative of a house selling company in Orihuela.
The agent rung the owner, who said another 7 days he would fix it. But its unfurnished and not clean either and worse than when we viewed it two months ago, so we took the decision to not go ahead with the rental. Now being homeless we spent 32 nights looking at three other properties before finding another property. Repeatedly in contact with the english speaking agents assistant who said the owner has promised to return the deposit of €550. I have emailed the owner at least 5 times with a Google translation and politely but never a reply and the agent again says he can do no more but we think he didn't really do enough as an agent. We have been quoted €150 by a lawyer to send a letter.

Any ideas more than welcome and is it worth using the "Named and shamed" on Facebook or is it all a waste of time?

I work on the basis that most people who rent out property don't declare it, I would send them both another email, or better still a whatsapp if you have their mobile number, that way at least you will know if and when they have read it.

Firstly tell the agent, if they do not get you your money back, you will go to their office and expect to fill in the complaints book. To the owner, tell them you will denounce them and also report them to the Hacienda in Alicante. If they are both running their businesses 100% legally, then they will probably just tell you to sod off, but I've never come across any property company that's 100% clean.

i am in the process of looking for a property to rent long term in quesada, hope i dont get your agent

Jlt wrote:i am in the process of looking for a property to rent long term in quesada, hope i dont get your agent

Certainly not, this agent is at least 30-40 kms away. You will have no problems in Quesada I think for sure.

Adey wrote:I work on the basis that most people who rent out property don't declare it, I would send them both another email, or better still a whatsapp if you have their mobile number, that way at least you will know if and when they have read it.

Firstly tell the agent, if they do not get you your money back, you will go to their office and expect to fill in the complaints book. To the owner, tell them you will denounce them and also report them to the Hacienda in Alicante. If they are both running their businesses 100% legally, then they will probably just tell you to sod off, but I've never come across any property company that's 100% clean.

Sorry about the delay but what please is Hacienda in Alicante? Estate agent complaint office or something else?
Many thanks as the owner regularly still tells the agent in Pinosa that he is refunding the money, but never does.
I continue to send the owner at Mediterraneo Beach, Orihuela an email but he never replies. I think he thinks a holding deposit was used for him to put a cooker, frig etc inside the rental. Do not know, just a hunch. Surely you cannot rent or maybe buy without these things as he promised anyway they would be included. I have WhatsApped him and he has read them until recently when he doesn't.

Firstly do you have anything remotely like an invoice or receipt, was the money you paid made in cash or by money transfer.

Hi,yes it was transferred to the account that the agent in Pinoso sent us, which went to the owner.

Re-reading your initial post, all the promises and timescales appear to come from the agent, although you are led to believe they are from the owner, you have never spoken to or been able to contact the owner, so you should direct all your efforts at the agent to start with.

Did the bank account have a name on it, or were you just given an account number.

We should take this discussion to internal mail, so PM me the email address you have for the owner, also the number you whatsapp them on.

Also remember by law this deposit should have been put in a secure account that can't be touched by either party without agreement.

Like others have stated, your agent seems to be not very good. I had the misfortune a few years ago to suffer under the hands of a dodgy agent. In the end she did a bunk & left her mum to clear up her mess.

My experience was a non paying tenant, in the end I had to sort it out myself through my solicitor in Spain. Luckily, I was able to get the tenant out without to much of a problem. I lost a fair bit of money from the experience as the agents mum didn’t return what I was owed & I had to pay to get my property back to a good standard.

In the end, I just counted my blessings & losses, and decided to just move on.

Your situation is a lot different to mine, but it looks to me that you have been another victim of a scrupulous property owner. My advice would be to put this to one side, look at alternative properties to rent first. Once you have settled in, then decide if you want to pursue with chasing this property owner.

Last of all - A good solicitor is not hard to find in Spain.