Duivendaal. Photo SP Ede Housing agency Xior charged Ninke Feenstra a total of 2.271 euros in service fees for her twelve-square-metre room in the year 2021. She brought her case before the rent committee, which argued that the service fees for her room should be 1572 euros, a difference of almost 700 euros. Eighteen (former) tenants also brought their cases before the committee and won.
The committee says that Xior wrongfully charged tenants for certain costs, such as elevator maintenance, taxes and a new floor. Moreover, the housing agent was unable to produce all the invoices for electricity, gas and upholstery. This was enough for the committee to lower or exclude eight of the eleven service fee categories. Only water, internet and administration costs remained as they were.
Xior charged the 179 Duivendaal tenants a combined excess sum of 75 thousand euros in 2021. The rent assessment committee ruling, which is binding, does not apply to all tenants. Each individual tenant must file a case. A survey among the current tenants shows that there are currently 12 cases filed, while a few tenants are still considering this option. Rent laws allow them until 30 June 2024 to file a claim if they wish to do so.
Ninke Feenstra explains that not every tenant who files a case will receive seven hundred euros. ‘The exact sum depends on the size of the room and how much you have paid.’
Wary
Feenstra received several invoices related to the previous year in 2022. ‘One of these invoices was hundreds of euros more than the previous year, and that made me wary. I did not pay, as the service fees charges over 2020 were also incorrect, and my experience tells me that Xior is not swift to repay.’ Feenstra did, however, pay an advance for the service fees every month in 2021. In total, the advance fees she paid and the service fees, as ruled by the committee, are almost the same, meaning that she and Xior break even.
Rent assessment committee
Feenstra enlisted the services of the rent assessment committee after reading the information provided by the Woonbond, which supports tenants. ‘That revealed that Xior wrongfully charges certain service fees. Landlords are permitted to make a profit off rent, but the service fees must consist only of costs that have actually been made. There are also rules as to what can and what cannot be passed on to the tenants.’ Extensive maintenance, for example, falls within the landlord’s financial responsibility. Feenstra: ‘Xior charged me for replacing the floor, but they are not allowed to do so. That was the reason I took it to the rent assessment committee.’
Repetition
Whether Xior will change its ways following its defeat in the case remains to be seen. ‘I think that Xior may try to charge too much in service fees for the year 2022, but if they do, I will file a case again’, says tenant Chiem Swart (22). In its annual financial report for 2022, Xior writes that the risk of court cases initiated by tenants is high, but the impact thereof is small since the committee rules per individual case. ‘This statement suggests that Xior’s policy is to ignore the legal service fee laws’, says Matthijs ten Broeke of Woonbond. ‘This example underscores the need for the Good Lessorship Law that will come into effect as of 1 July 2023. Whether that law is effective in combatting issues such as these is still to be seen. Municipalities must enforce rent laws.’
Reaction Xior
In a statement, Xior says it will respect the ruling and draw lessons from it. Dick Schotman, Xior-director of real estate operations: ‘Mistakes were made in supplying the rent committee with the invoices. We also failed to correct service fees in time. Although it is not an excuse, this is the result of a shortage in personnel.’
When asked whether Xior intends to proactively refund excess service fees, Schotman says he cannot make any promises but that the matter will be taken into consideration. ‘We will study the committee’s ruling, and if the final invoice contains cost items that should not be on it, we will see what we can do for the tenants in this building. Furthermore, we will visit all of Xior’s properties in the Netherlands to ensure the service fees are correct. Service fees are not a revenue model for us; they must be transparent and correct.’
