Hi there,

I almost rented at Perdana Exclusive. But found a way better deal at Bandar Utama.

My advise to such problems would be

1) the standard rule when vacating a premise is - the landlord comes to check the condition of the house together with you, if everything is in good order, he/she should return your deposit to you AT THE SAME TIME as you return the keys & passcards to him. If he doesn't do that, then you have the right to hold on to the keys until he does. Nvr compromise on this. The only deposit he can withhold at that time is your utility deposit which he will wait until the final elec / water bill to be cleared. Example - if you move out on 15th, then you have to wait till the final week of the mth to get your bills, and prove to the owner you paid your share till 15th (prorate), then you'll get your utility deposit back. As for the 2 mths deposit, you MUST get it the moment you return your keys to the landlord.

(No such thing as return your deposit 2 weeks after vacating the premise if you've served your contractual rental time - means if your tenancy agreement is from 1st apr 08 - 31st Mar 09 and you paid your rental till 31st Mar 09 - the owner MUST return your deposit. If you didn't serve your tenancy obligations, ie you left earlier than 31st Mar 09 then the owner has the right to keep your deposit as you didn't fufill the terms)
2) As to the hefty utitlity bills every month - what I usually do before renting a house is to ask the landlord for his most recent utility bill (just tell him I want an estimate of how much the utility is) - then you'll know the normal rate you have to fork out. My current house in BU has 4 ACs, total 5.5hp. I had no idea how much the utility will cost so I asked the previous tenant how much they paid on full capacity month. That's how I found out. I also found out the water (plumbing) in the house has some problems - water bill quite high compared to normal usage. But the amount is negligable hence I decided to take the house anyway. Also - I checked every single AC, water heater, fan, lights, autogate etc in the house before renting. The moment the tenancy agreement is signed - you don't have the power to negotiate with owner anymore. (if he's nice, he'll repair for you, if not then you're on your own)

3) Lastly - a normal Tenancy for a house is minimum 1 year - so it's good to pay attention to these details. Be fussy! you're the one living and paying the rent. Not the owner.

* If you haven't got back your deposit till now, I suggest you sms the owner - tell her you'll get your friends to lock up her unit if she doesn't return your money. This will cause inconvenience to her current tenant which will give her problem - if you meet her current tenant, even better - tell them the whole story. PS - you don't have to carry this out (sounds like gangster move anyway) - but hopefully this shows her that you're not someone she can bully her way out.  You can even threaten to send letters addressed to the unit - tell whoever the current tenant there your story. This will tarnish her reputation, not something she would want. In short, you want to send her a message that you can make her life very difficult if she keeps your money.

hope this helps