Question posted in the Property Law category relating to Western Cape
Hi
I was leasing a property from my land lady when a few months later it was broken into and some things were stolen. She then offered us another flat since the current tenant was moving out so we took it and she informed me that the deposit for the first flat will be transferred to the new flat, however she never prepared a new lease agreement for the new flat even though the location changed and the rental fee was more. So i recently moved out due to several reasons including her family invading our privacy even after requesting them to give us some space as well as other activities that were happening in her yard that made us feel uncomfortable. This new property was a flat at the back of her house. We figure since we did not have a formal lease agreement for the new flat, it was okay for us to move out without giving any specified period of notice to vacate. So now she is refusing to pay back our deposit which we paid for the first flat, she is claiming she did us a favor by transferring us to the new flat, even though we were going to move out of the first flat anyway for security reasons. My question is, is she allowed to refuse to pay me back my deposit since we were basically staying at the new flat without a lease agreement and we moved out after giving her a week's notice?
Please assit.
Kind regards
Victor Lethuba
0791721748
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