**WARNING TO PROSPECTIVE TENANTS
**WARNING TO PROSPECTIVE TENANTS — our experience with PropBLVD and a €5,000 holding deposit**
I am sharing our experience with PropBLVD because our €5,000 holding deposit has not been returned, despite our request for a refund.
We initially found a listing on Idealista and contacted Maria at PropBLVD. She told us about a property she described as available off-market, explaining that the asking rent was €7,000 per month but that the owner was willing to accept €5,000. We arranged to meet, and she showed us around the property.
**We agreed with Maria to rent the property for €5,000 per month, fully furnished, moving in March.** The arrangements also included completion of the back garden, installation of pantry shelves and a new barbecue.
During the viewing, Maria told us that previous prospective tenants had kept the landlord waiting for six months before being denied their visas, but had received their holding deposit back. This reassured us about proceeding. The receiving bank details matched the business name, and the company appeared to be registered.
We transferred **€5,000 as a holding deposit to reserve the property on the agreed terms**, with a written agreement to follow.
No written agreement confirming those terms was provided. While we waited, we found the same property advertised through other agencies, which were still offering to show us around it. PropBLVD’s own listing also remained visible five days after our payment. This concerned us because we had already paid to reserve the property.
After a matter of days, we requested our deposit back because we had received no written agreement and other agencies were continuing to offer viewings.
After our refund request, we received a proposal with substantially different terms: a higher monthly rent and a December start date. **We had agreed €5,000 per month, fully furnished, starting in March. We did not accept the changed terms.**
PropBLVD refused our refund request, stating that the property had been taken off the market. We dispute its decision to retain our deposit, given the circumstances described above.
Maria’s earlier statement about returning the previous prospective tenants’ deposit after six months makes this particularly difficult to understand. We requested our refund after only a matter of days, without having received the promised written agreement.
**At the time of writing, our €5,000 remains outstanding. We have instructed a lawyer to pursue recovery of the deposit.**
This experience has caused considerable stress during preparations for our family’s move. We paid in good faith to reserve a property on specific agreed terms. No written agreement confirming those terms followed, and a materially different proposal was subsequently provided.
Based on our experience, I urge anyone considering paying a holding deposit to PropBLVD to obtain written confirmation of the exact rental terms, what the deposit secures and the circumstances in which it will be refunded before transferring money.
Finding an agent through Idealista, viewing a property in person and seeing bank details matching a business name gave us confidence to proceed. We are now having to pursue repayment of our deposit.
**We request the return of our €5,000.** This review describes our experience and the matters we dispute. I will update it to reflect any resolution.