Return of deposit.

The parties entered into a lease for an indefinite period covering a room on 1 July 2020. The tenant put down a deposit of ISK 150,000. Straight away in July, the landlord demanded that the tenant move to another room in the house as he wished to use this room himself. The tenant rejected this, taking the view that the room to which he was being asked to move was not comparable. The tenant moved out, and requested the return of his deposit. The landlord returned ISK 100,000 but refused to return the remainder.

The Complaints Committee took the view that the landlord had rescinded the lease unlawfully on 25 July 2020 when he requested that the tenant move out of the room that he had rented. The landlord did not make a written claim against the deposit within four weeks of the return of the room; for that reason, immediately, he was obliged to return the remainder of the deposit to the tenant.

Conclusion: The landlord was ordered to return ISK 50,000 of the tenant’s deposit.