Relo Montreal reviews and complaints

This is a warning to anyone that may consider renting an apartment from ReloMontreal: do not pay them any deposit as you run the risk of never getting any of it back.
At the time I was not aware that it is unlawful to request a deposit in Quebec, so I had paid them a 3.000 CAD deposit while renting the furnished apartment #704 at 445 Viger Ouest from May till November 2013. November 29th was my last day in Montreal and I handed over the keys to ReloMontreal employee Nicolas Fortin who checked the apartment. According to him everything was well so I should have my deposit refunded before the end of the year.

I returned to Europe and checked my bank account balance early 2014 but the deposit had not been refunded. I reminded Nicolas to refund the deposit and he assured me that all would be taken care off within one week or so. Two weeks later I still hadn't received my money so I asked him to refund the deposit asap and he told me that he (again) had forwarded the request to the department (actually 1 person) responsible for making these payments. I got their direct contact info and I ended up communicating with a person called Pritesh Patel. I kept asking him to refund my deposit and he always told me that he would take care of it but I didn't receive a single cent. This stalling game went on for two months before I gave up and approached his boss. His boss turned out to be his brother (Dhiren Patel) and apparently the inability to refund someone's deposit runs in the family because promises were made but noting got refunded.

It was April 2014 and I came to the conclusion that I would never get my deposit back while I was in Europe and they were save on the other side of the Atlantic. So I asked for help from a fellow countryman who I had met while working in Montreal and who was still living there. It took him more than a month in which he visited their office, emailed them, called them (in the end every day) but in the end he managed to get (most of) the money back. He confirmed what I feared which is that ReloMontreal never intended to refund my deposit after I had left the country. They probably expect people to give up at some point because the legal costs from abroad are likely to end up higher than the deposit itself.

So I was lucky enough that someone trustworthy could represent me in Montreal and was able to get most of my money back. But the amount of effort and time it cost was enormous. So my advise: don't go there. Don't do business with ReloMontreal to begin with and if you ignore this first piece of advise, at least don't pay them any deposit. And if you do ... well good luck getting it back!

br, Pim

I rented a furnished apartment (328 Wood Ave advertised as "Westmount City") from Relo Montreal from mid August till mid December 2013. They requested a $5, 500 deposit, which I had no problem with since I like to end my tenancies in good order and always get my deposit back. I didn't know at the time that requesting a deposit is actually unlawful in Quebec.

I asked in advance to have an agent come in and inspect the property the day we moved out, the agent Nicolas Fortin said it wasn't an issue, but no one showed up. 20 days after vacating, I contacted the agent Nicolas Fortin to request my deposit back and he informed me that the owner claimed I had damaged the kitchen counter. After several useless attempts to get more information from Nicolas, I contacted the owner directly. I explained to him that I had noticed the crack about two weeks into the lease, when I lifted the dish drying rack for the first time (which was provided and in place), and that I had not caused it. He refused to let me be present when a professional assessed the damage, and to get a copy of any bid to repair the counter. He also said he estimated the repairs at about $500, and that he wasnt going to hire anyone, because he already had people that worked for him and did these kind of jobs.

The agent later told me it was going to be $1, 000, without any proof that I had caused the cracks or even a bid from a professional to fix the counter. I did not agree to it and filed a claim with the Regie du Logement. Three months later I haven't received any part of the $5, 500 deposit back.

As I said before, requesting a deposit for a lease is unlawful in Quebec, and if a landlord wants to be reimbursed for damages to a property, he has to take it directly to the Regie du Logement. Relo Montreal abuses the fact that most people interested in corporate rentals and furnished apartments are from out of town and are not aware that it is unlawful to request a deposit to sign a lease. Fortunately I am staying in Montreal permanently now, but Relo Montreal also counts on you having to leave town before you can do anything to get your money back.