NoBroker is not refunding the Security Deposit | I have NOT signed any agreement
Hi,
Thank you so much for your help in advance.
This is with regard to renting a flat using the NoBroker App.
I'm from Hyderabad and have been looking for a rental property. I found one on NoBroker. For your information, there are typically two kinds of properties on NoBroker.
i) A rental property that is displayed on NoBroker website/app. Any potential tenant can reach the owner using the website/app and proceed further.
ii) A rental property that is displayed on NoBroker and also managed by NoBroker. Meaning that if a potential tenant is interested in such properties, NoBroker will carry out all the paper & non-paper work by being a mediator between the tenant and the owner.
The property that I chose belong to the second type.
I visited the two times before deciding to ahead with it. I just wanted to make sure everything was right with the flat in terms of ventilation, water TDS, mosquitoes, power cuts, cleanliness, distance from the main road, availability of stores nearby, etc.
I wanted to take more time to decide but I was afraid I might lose it to other potential tenants, so I paid a token amount of INR 5K.
After this point, the corresponding property manager from NoBroker kept calling me & e-mailing me to proceed further.
After paying the token amount of 5K, I was still unsure about renting the property due its distance and potential internet issues, etc., since it's a new community without any society-board formed just yet.
After a few days, they couldn't wait for me any longer, so they re-activated the property on NoBroker so that it could be found by other potential tenants. After this, I was again afraid of losing it, so I made up my mind and paid INR 35K (in addition to the initially paid INR 5K token amount). All in all, I paid INR 40K towards Security deposit until this point.
Now, unfortunately, I changed my mind; I don't want to rent the flat anymore. But I feel sorry for the owner for taking their time, so I said to NoBroker that I'm ready to pay the following and please issue me a refund for the remaining amount.
I'm ready to lose the initially paid INR 5K token amount, the agreement fee of INR 1000 that the owner paid to NoBroker towards drafting an agreement (which I have NOT signed by the way), rent for the days from Dec 16 - 22 (today) (16th Dec because that was supposed to be my move-in date if I proceeded with renting the flat), and a small penalty. All in all, I'm ready to pay INR 10K and have requested them to pay me back the remaining INR 30K.
NoBroker says they cannot issue me the refund.
How can I get my money back? Please note that I have NOT signed any agreement with them, so I believe I'm eligible for a full-refund, but out of the goodness of my heart, I want to value the owner's time by paying the rent for the duration of my official move-in date to this day.
Any help in this matter is greatly appreciated.
Thank you!