Be extremely cautious if you're considering renting from Van der Meulen Makelaars. My two-year tenancy ended with over €550 unfairly deducted from my deposit, combined with misleading claims and unnecessary stress.
Just days before moving out, their employee, Aron, conducted a pre-check inspection. He clearly said, "It looks like no one even lived here—it's perfect. Exactly how it should be left." This statement made me confident since we had thoroughly cleaned and maintained the apartment. Apart from a minor oversight—some leftover crumbs inside the oven from cooking the night before—the apartment was tidy, undamaged, and precisely as received. I even recorded a full video walkthrough to document its condition.
After moving out, I expected my deposit promptly. Instead, they stayed silent for a week. Only after I asked did they respond, suddenly accusing me of leaving the apartment "extremely dirty," claiming multiple unspecified items were missing, and alleging that chairs were "broken."
Initially, they specifically accused me of missing items, including the television stand and electric kettle. When I promptly provided video evidence clearly showing these items visibly placed upstairs and on the table respectively, their only response was, "Oh, we must have overlooked them," after which they stopped replying altogether. It remains baffling and suspicious how meticulously they inspected and documented minor issues like dust behind heavy furniture yet somehow managed to overlook clearly visible large items. Despite this clear video proof, they still deducted €250 from my deposit under the vague category of "missing items."
In reality, the chairs were not broken at all. They only showed normal wear—peeling synthetic leather after two years of daily use. I'd already paid monthly fees (€100–150/month) explicitly covering normal wear and tear. However, in their final invoice, they did not even mention the chairs explicitly but charged me €250 under a vague and unexplained category of "missing items." Initially, they refused to specify exactly what was missing.
Additionally, they charged me €306.32 for cleaning services hired 25 days after I had moved out, shockingly including the cleaning company's parking fees—an expense which clearly should not be the tenant's responsibility, further highlighting the unreasonable and unfair nature of their charges. When I promptly offered to return and address any cleaning needed, specifically the minor oven issue, they declined, saying it was "too late."
Worse still, I had been explicitly informed that my tenancy couldn't be renewed because the landlord stated the apartment was being sold. Trusting their word, I moved out promptly with my two young children, enduring significant difficulties finding new housing, ultimately landing us in temporary accommodation. While I'm currently uncertain if the apartment has indeed been sold or not, this situation has caused significant hardship and raised concerns about their true intentions.
This experience has left me feeling exploited and misled. It appears to follow a pattern:
They reassure tenants verbally at checkout.
They then remain silent about returning the deposit.
Weeks later, they suddenly claim cleaning issues, missing items, or damage.
They refuse tenant offers to remedy minor issues themselves.
Finally, they deduct large amounts from the deposit with exaggerated claims.
I will take legal action to recover my deposit and prevent others from facing similar mistreatment. I gave Van der Meulen Makelaars and the landlord time to respond and explained why the deductions were unfair—but they ignored me. Since they refused to resolve it, I'm going to court on the next business day. I share this review to help future tenants avoid the same stress and injustice.
