Unless stated otherwise in the contract, the landlord has one month to return the deposit to the tenant after they have moved out. If the refund does not take place or the deposit was only partially paid, you can consider taking one of the following measures:
- Write a friendly note to your landlord or try to get him to talk to you. At the end of the day the delay might have been caused by lack of communication (especially if you don’t speak the same language – try and ask a Polish speaking friend to talk to the landlord for you). Once you get hold of him you may find out that he kept the deposit rightfully (e.g. for replacing or fixing broken items, covering unpaid bills).
- If the problem has not been resolved in a friendly manner send a demand letter to your landlord, preferably by means of a certified letter. In most cases this will be enough to get your landlord to repay the deposit (how to write a demand note: http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/free-books/small-claims-book/chapter6-4.html)
- If you sent the demand note and you still haven’t received your money back you can take the matter to court. Please contact a lawyer for advice regarding this.
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