Former tenants of the Sugar Homes gathered in front of the office of the building’s property manager on Monday to demand their deposit back. They are threatening legal action if their money isn’t returned to them before December 19.
The 250 students who rented a room in the Sugar Homes complex last academic year didn’t get their 750 euro deposit back after they moved out. Owner STHO let them know it was being withheld to pay for the energy bill. But that’s illegal, the former tenants argue. STHO should return their deposit and send them a separate bill for the energy costs.
‘They don’t listen to us. They’re just totally unsympathetic to our demands. It’s horrible’, says UG student Yvette Serrata Rosario, who lived at Sugar Homes last year.
Bill
Around twenty people came to the protest, which was also attended by renters’ rights association Bond Precaire Woonvormen. They refused an invitation by Groningse Panden, which manages the property for STHO, to talk the matter over.
‘We aren’t here to negotiate; we are here to present the bill’, said Bond Precaire Woonvormen representative Robin van den Berg-Markus. ‘If you don’t pay within seven days, you can expect legal action and other actions.’