If you’ve ever rented an apartment, you’d be aware that it is SOP to give two months deposit and one month advance payment. In some cases, it’s more than that. My daughters go to a college that is too far for daily commute. So, they stay in a rented condo. In Sam’s case, this is the fourth condo in a little over a year. This is our horror story.
The first condo that Sam stayed in was owned by Speedy’s youngest brother. We were given preferential rates, no deposit, no advanced payment. Family, after all. But Sam found the condo too far from the school. And she felt lonely living by herself.
So, we gave up the condo and she moved to a dormtel, short for dormitory-hotel, called Cara Celine. Four girls to a room. At P7,000.00 per person per month, including electricity, water and cleaning services, it was very affordable. We paid two months’ deposit and one month advance. Sam’s best friend, Joan, and another friend, Catalina, were her roommates.
It turned out that Sam wasn’t comfortable at Cara Celine. No cooking was allowed in the room, even the use of a microwave oven, so she couldn’t bring cooked food from the house. No outsiders were allowed in the room either. In short, Sam found life at Cara Celine boring and inconvenient. Worse, the girls had bad experiences with slippers getting ruined and gadgets mysteriously getting destroyed. Remember, cleaning services were included in the contract so it wasn’t just the girls who had access to their room.
When the six-month contract with Cara Celine expired last December, we didn’t renew it. Two days before school resumed after the Christmas break, we were able to find a reasonably-priced condo unit (at Providence Condominium) that Sam and Joan could share. They moved in.
The Cara Celine contract having expired, we went about collecting the deposit. And that was when our headaches began. It was Speedy, mostly, who had to deal with the Cara Celine people. I wouldn’t intervene until the very end. But let me tell you how things unfolded.
The first time Speedy asked for the deposit, he was told that he’d have to come back after two months. Since it was Christmas break and we were busy with so many things, we didn’t think much about it. Sam moved to the condo with Joan, Speedy’s balikbayan brothers and their families were in town on vacation, we were all busy with parties and outings and, well… to make a long story short, the two-month period was over before we knew it.
When Speedy went back to Cara Celine after the two-month waiting period, he was told that he’d have to make a written request. Okay, I wrote the request and Speedy handed it to them a week later. Remember that Speedy could only follow up with Cara Celine on Fridays before he picked up Sam. So, a week passed before he written request could be handed in. After he did, he was told to follow up by phone. The following week, he was told that it would be another two months from the date the written request was handed in. At around this time, we were busy with Alex’s prom then her graduation. In other words, another two months passed before we knew it.
Four months having passed from the day that the lease contract expired, Speedy and I were getting irritated. The women in the reception area always had one excuse or another. When Speedy started to become demanding, they told him that they would give him a post-dated check. That was when I finally lost my temper.
A deposit made in consideration of a lease is immediately demandable as soon as the contract expires. A deposit is made for a reason — to cover damages to the leased property, if any, and to cover any unpaid rental. Since there were no damages and no unpaid rentals, we should have gotten the deposit four months earlier.
From the house, I called up Cara Celine. I told the one in charge of the front desk that Speedy would come by the next day and she’d better have the money ready — in cash. Otherwise, we were bringing in the police. I told her I would sue all of them for estafa — and “that’s not a threat; that’s a promise.”
Twenty-four hours later, we had our money. But that’s not the end of the story.
Last week, Joan and her older brother went to Cara Celine to get the deposit they paid. And they were given the same runaround. Unfortunately for the Cara Celine people, Joan and her brother were aware of what Speedy and I had gone through and they knew that playing hardball was the only way to get through to those people.
So, Joan’s brother, Dennis, started making an ugly scene. He demanded why Speedy was able to get back our money while they wouldn’t give back Joan’s deposit. And you know what the people at the front desk told him? “Kasi, nauna silang (meaning us) nagwala.” To translate, it means “Because they (meaning us) were the first to get angry.” At the time that Dennis was demanding angrily, Joan was texting me and I advised her to threaten the Cara Celine people with a lawsuit. Before Joan and Dennis left Cara Celine, they had their money back.
I don’t know what kind of business those effing people at Cara Celine are running. According to the front desk people, it’s the owner — a Korean — who’s hard-headed. I don’t know how true that is — a foreigner can own a condo unit but not the lot on which the condo building stands. Unless someone — a Filipino — fronts for him.
Who cares, really, whether the Korean angle is true or not. A lessor is not a bank that is lawfully authorized to invest deposits received from clients. A lessor cannot do that because a person or entity engaged in the lease business is not engaged in the banking business, and deposits received from lessees must always be available upon demand. If a lawful demand is made — as when the contract has already expired — and the lessor refuses or fails to return the deposit, then estafa is committed.
The lease contract with Providence Condominium will expire on July 2. No one stays there anymore because we had to find a bigger unit for the three girls — Sam, Alex and Joan — and they had all moved to the bigger condo over a week ago. Will Providence give us the same crap that Cara Celine had? I hope not because with the terribly hot weather, I’m short-tempered these days.
So, if you ever find yourself in a similar situation and you’re not sure how to assert your rights, remember — the word is estafa.
Connie, I know where Cara Celine is. Parang it’s little korea nga eh.
I was told by manang yosi and the security guard, it’s the pinay wife who fronts for the Korean.
Good thing they moved out of providence, you should see the area every saturday evening. imagine: basag na bote ng beer, basag na mukha, and police mobile.
there is also a bar fronting providence named dematisse, and boy, every week me trouble doon. two years ago nga me nabaril pang lasenggo, estudyante yun ha.
kakainis yung cara celine.
Buti na lang pala, no one stays beyond Friday evening. Shucks, really, so hard to find decent accommodation that’s reasonably priced.
Is it even legal for a foreigner to own property?
When I was going to school there, we stayed first at Madison (down the street) and then at Somerset, which was a further walk but much more reasonably priced. It really helped to have roomies because the growing number of students who want to live near campus keep these units in high demand and priced almost beyond reach.
I heard stuff about that Cara Celine place, but from students in another school. Same issues, and they chalked it up to the fact that they were from the province and their parents couldn’t really do much to stick up for them, and so the caretakers were really able to abuse them. As far as I know, one of them hasn’t received her deposit back yet lol.
Based on the Condominium Law, foreigners can own condo unit (which really translates to shares of stock in the condominium corporation), but not real property.
We also heard stories afterward about lessees who still have to collect their deposits over a year after leaving the premises.
Chris, where is Madison? And Somerset?
Hi Connie,
‘Kala ko pa naman Ok ang Cara Celine , daming palusot! I saw that condo sa TFC, sa Kabuhayang Swak na Swak yata. I’ve had my share of the same greediness from my 2 previous lessors, when I had my private practice in Manila. I hired a lawyer just to stop their ignorance. Kabwiset yan sila!
grabe naman mga shrewed businesses na yan.. kulang nlng mag amok para mabigay ang dapat na para sayo.. thanx for this tip mam ^^
The ViXeN’s LaiR
You’re still in luck that the Cara Celine had a front desk and someone to answer the phone right away. Most dormitories and apartments have vigilant owners when it comes to collecting money but the same would just disappear like a ghost whenever you ask for your deposit back.
Nakakagigil naman talaga ang management ng Cara Celine… buti na lang nakahanap na sila ng katapat, but if they don’t shape up, worst things can happen to them.
i have similar experience pero pinoy may-ari. i rented once a house in fort bonifacio. 2 months advance 1 month deposit. their definition of deposit is sa kanila na daw yun. not refundable. hindi ako pumirma sa contract na me ganung statement. what i did was i refused to pay rent on my last month of stay. wala naman sila nagawa, kelangan lang talaga matapang ka din kung hindi, madadala ka sa pasindak-sindak nila.
We rented a dorm for our friend’s daughter after she moved back to the US and once she was moved out they gave us the option of issuing us a check or direct deposit. We asked them to deposit the deposit to our account and within a week we had our deposit back. This was not in the university belt but up on E. Rod.
On the flip side, we have been having nothing but trouble getting money refunded for a summer class at one of the “better” schools here. They canceled the course the day before it was to start and we are still trying to get them to return our money.
Hi my experience naman renting apartment is yearly nag i increase how many percent. so hirap talaga, yes lucky parin kayo at nakuha nyo na deposit nyo i am sure maraming hindi naka claim dyan ng mga deposit sa case na yan. thanks for the post
What I like is the upfront banggitan agad ng pangalan ng culprit.
i suggest since hindi na natin talaga kilala ang mga owners ng mga bldgs na nirerentahan, take a video of the place before you moved in and point out kung meron mga sira habang ishinoshow sa inyo ng katiwala or bldg manager then kung ivavacate nyo na ivideo din, so if they claim something got broken meron kayong evidence, sayang naman if you can’t get a refund sa deposit, lalo na pataas ng pataas ang tuition fees
Ma’am thanks for the useful insights about Cara Celine. i am a reviewee planning to go to manila and rent a room near dlsu. Cara Celine is one place i’m looking forward to stay, relying only thru the net. However, based on your conplaints about their system, I am in doubt whether I still have to stay in there or not. I would love to have a place of my own, even for a short term and I also want to mingle also with people because I have become an introvert. Based on the comments and some blogs written about Cara Celine, I came into a conclusion that maybe some of the tenants there enjoy the time of their lives because they’re out of their parents’ reach and that they enjoy the freedom that they have knowing that they get to smoke freely in there and they don’t even have curfews. I don’t know if it will do good for them, perhaps, they’re just focused on the fun that they’re having in there. On the otherhand, the issue on deposits is not a laughing matter. If you’ll get to transact it in a day, if it’s really a good business establishment, you can have your deposit after a few minutes, maybe lesser than an hour. What you have shared with us Ma’am has disturbed me in a way that if ever i have to stay in that place, there’s a big possibility that I could not get that deposit as soon as I can. That’s really disturbing. Thank you so much.
Hi! I know Joan and Dennis
I was a former tenant of Cara as well. It took me about 6 months before I got my deposit as well. I had to call them almost every week to follow-up on this. My time, it wasn’t managed by MK pa…and the front desk always reasoned out na their manager, a Sir Michael, is always out, thus no one can issue and sign the checks.
A friend who also stayed there filed a lawsuit against them…after that binigay na kaagad yung security deposit.
Back when I was a law student coming from the province, my sister and I had a lot of headaches with lessors like these. Having to fend for ourselves, even before I became I lawyer, I learned how to stand up for us.
I was thinking about that. Students from provinces who aren’t even used to the nitty-gritty of life in the city. They look for a place they can feel at home in and they get treated so shabbily. Traumatic.
Ms. Connie, on the other hand, we probinsyanas learned a lot from that experience. Our mom, bless her, would cringe everytime she’d visit. Nandiri sya sa dorm namin, haha, it was a bit run-down. But we chose it bec. it was just across my school and the alternative was a dorm na required ang tenants kumain sa cafeteria whose daily menu included ginising giniling with quail eggs.
Just a comment, there is no criminal liability arising from failure to return the deposit. The relationship is contractual.
More power!
Excuse me. The lease is a contract. Holding on to the deposit after the lease has expired is estafa. Magbasa-basa ka nga muna ng batas bago ka mag-comment.
Hi Ma’am,
We have the same effin experience with cara celine dormtel. i ended my contract last december 2010 and was told to write a request letter which i did. they promised to call me but they never did. so by mid-january 2011 i followed up my request but they told me to wait til the end of the month for their call. which again never happened. because of my busy schedule, i never called them until mid april. but i heard the same sh*t excuses and again promise to call but until now i’m still the one following it. i really never received a single call/update from them. its like if you’re not gonna follow it up, no one will return your money. tomorrow i will call again, but i’m really expecting them to give my money back. i spend lots of my prepaid load just calling them since i’m in the province right now.
Tell them you’ll bring the police when you visit them.
This is a thing of the past. With the takeover of the new management last July 01, 2011 under Cara Celine Dormtel Property Management, Inc. its easier to get your security deposit and other related refundable financial transaction. However, the release of security deposit is still bound by clearance duly secured from CCDPMI and other concerned concessionaires. We invite you to inquire further on this new development, and shed light on other issues which you may be included.
“This is a thing of the past.”
So, you don’t engage in estafa anymore. Good for you. If — and that’s a big IF — what you say is true.
hi! i’m helping a colleague’s son to find a room to stay near CSB. any recommendations on how we go about doing this? suggestions on good condos or dormtels will be awesome. thanks!
Tell your colleague to walk around the area, look at condos and see available units. This is not the way to go about looking for a child’s accommodations.