September pub night in Copenhagen

Set aside the evening of Friday, September 10th for our next Copenhagen pub night. Location details will follow, closer to the time.

Art show featuring 7 Nova Scotian artists

Canadian artistic collaboration SEVEN will exhibit at 3 centres in Denmark between August and October. The 7 female artists work in a variety of materials: wool, words, copper and colours. Show details follow:

August 5-8 — at Basal Elin Galleri, Trepkasgade 5, Copenhagen 2100 (near Rigshospital). Hours Thursday Aug. 5, noon to 8 PM with opening reception from 6-8 PM. Friday Aug. 6, noon to 8 PM. Saturday Aug. 7 and Sunday Aug. 8, 10 AM to 5 PM.

Sat. August 14 from 11 AM to 4 PM at Basal Elin Studio in Horsholm (Loejeltevej 12-14).

Sept. 12 to Oct. 12 at Vaerkstedsgalleriet, Gedskovvej 3, Kerteminde 5300.

Great Apartment for rent in Frederiksberg

We are moving to a new part of town – closer to work and want our lovely apartment to go to someone nice. Details are below:

Spacious and light filled 78sqm fully furnished 1st flr apartment with own parking space. Great location, only a few mins walk to all transportation, cafés, parks and all that Gammel Kongevej has to offer.
The apartment includes an eat in kitchen, utility room (washer & dryer), large living room opening on to the dining room, bathroom with separate shower and large bedroom.
There is also a large common garden and undercover cycle storage.

Available: 1st February 2010
Rent p/mth: 10,000DKK
Rent period: 2 years
Contact: Martin Brandt
2982 5632
www.muhldorff.dk

New Year & Looking For That Special Place!

Merry Christmas All!

I am Canadian. Double checked on that again – and yup still holds true!

As the new year approaches, I am looking to shake things up a bit. I am currently living in Frederiksberg (very close to the Copenhagen Business School) but this place is quite big and since it is only me most of the time, I would like to a) move and find a room mate to share an apartment with

And/or

b) find a room mate to share this apartment with

Both ways – I am interested in shared accommodation. Maximum amount that I am willing to pay is somewhere within the 4,000 to 5,000 dKK range.

Please call me if this is of interest!
My number is 29 87 88 72.

Merry, merry Christmas!

Hope to see you all again in the New Year!

Marcia

Some tips about renting accommodation in Denmark

An article by Brian Keith

This article contains some guidance for people intending to rent accommodation in Denmark. Many expats have pleasant and hassle-free experiences with rental properties and landlords, but many run into easily preventable problems. There’s very little help available for those who run into problems, and for those who do, it can be frustrating to find that they are more or less on their own.

However, the tenants union can provide some support. I have based much of the information in this article on a presentation they gave to Dagmar Fink’s “Worktrotter” group this month.

Note that in this article, “apartment” also refers to a house, villa or room that’s covered by a lease.

The Copenhagen Tenants Union
The tenants union for the Copenhagen area is called “Lejernes Lo in Hovedstaden” or LLO. It is a self-help association for tenants, and has no legal powers. The organization’s goal is to assure affordable, livable housing with secure tenancies, good maintenance etc. The association offers 6- or 12-month memberships; the membership fee is 655 kronors for the first 6 months. The group currently has 31,000 members.

Danish law offers some protection for tenants, covering such aspects as rent control, protection against being evicted for no reason, etc. LLO can help tenants with problems that arise. Every year, LLO helps launch more than 1,000 court cases against unscrupulous and criminal landlords. LLO staff can advise tenants on their legal options and advise which courts to use to pursue nonresponsive landlords, injustice, fraudulent actions, etc.

Their offices at Vester Voldgade 9 in Copenhagen (near Vesterport S-train station) are open limited hours. Their web site is www.llo.dk. You can obtain 3 introductory brochures in English:
– Take care you don’t get cheated
– When moving in
– When moving out

When you visit LLO, take your rental contract. LLO staff can also review members’ leases before they are signed. You should calculate the cost of renting a property using the number of kronors per square metre per year; the result is then used for comparing your apartment’s rent with others of similar size, age and condition.

Rental costs
You can “test” or object to the rental cost — but only within the first year of the lease. If you plan to move out of the apartment in the near future, don’t bother testing the rent. You must advise the landlord that you are applying to have the rent tested. He cannot evict you for having the rent tested or reduced. If the testing process finds that the rent was too high, the landlord must refund overpaid rent dating back to day 1.

Leases
There is no set wording for a lease. All the terms of a lease are negotiable between the landlord and tenant. Always sign a lease directly with the landlord — do not a lease with a third party (for example, a company). Landlords who sign leases with companies can circumvent rent controls and can break the law in many other ways.

Do not sign a lease that contains the word “nyistandsat” — this means that you will be obligated to restore the apartment to brand new condition when you move out.

Make sure that the lease allows you to terminate it within the 2-year period (usually 3 months notice, or 1 month for a room). That means you are not stuck paying rent for the entire term if things don’t work out. Also, there is nothing in Danish law that states you cannot renew an existing lease after 2 years. Some people are under the erroneous impression that leases cannot be renewed after 2 years, but that belief has no merit.

Moving in
Take pictures of the apartment before you move in, especially of anything that is damaged or imperfect. Within the first week after moving in, prepare a “moving in report”. Document any faults that were present when you moved in, and send a list of the faults needing repair to your landlord.

If an apartment is poorly maintained, or if you find something faulty after moving in, write to the landlord and ask for it to be fixed within 2 weeks. If nothing happens, you can get a ruling from the “tenancy board” (advice on how to do that is available from LLO).

Moving out
Of all areas affecting tenants, problems with moving out are the most prevalent and gut-wrenching, and may take place after you’ve left the country which makes communicating, investigating and solving problems much more difficult.

Approximately one-third of all tenants never see a single kronor of their deposit (usually 3 months rent). In addition, tenants are quite likely to be invoiced thousands of extra kronors to cover imaginary repairs, painting, renovation costs, etc. Danes are equally at risk for being ripped off, but for expatriate tenants who have moved abroad, it’s an unneeded headache.

Pay particular attention to terms in the lease that relate to the condition of the apartment when you move out. Some landlords will oblige the tenant to repaint the entire apartment, repair all damage to floors, woodwork or broken windows — things that in an equitable world the landlord would have to fix. If it’s in the lease, he has every right to insist the tenant do just that.

So the first rule upon moving out is to read what the lease says. If it states the apartment must be in “nyistandsat” (brand new condition), then try your best to achieve that. When you are about to move out, have the landlord inspect the apartment together with you (optionally with a representative from LLO), and agree on the repairs/repainting that you will do after moving out. You can do the work yourself; it’s not necessary to hire professionals. It’s normal (regardless of what the lease says) that the apartment is cleaned, e.g. walls, windows, ceilings, floors, bathroom fixtures, oven, etc.

Take pictures of the apartment when you move out. This serves as evidence of the way you left the apartment.

Problems with moving out may require intervention by the “tenancy board”. Several rules apply, for example, if the landlord seeks damages for repairs, he must present his claim within 2 weeks after you move out. If he misses the 2-week cut-off, he can’t claim anything.

If there’s a dispute, tenants can hire representatives of the tenancy board to look at the apartment and decide whether the landlord is being reasonable in his claim. Engaging the tenancy board costs 2,500 kr.

In conclusion, some landlords are honourable and tenants have positive experiences, and I hope this article will help prevent a few problems and unnecessary bad experiences. As shown by many people’s unfortunate experiences, being forewarned is a good idea.

Websites for rental housing

Having just completed a search for accommodation, I can pass on the following list of agencies that offer rental housing. Some of them are strictly in Copenhagen, but some let you select other cities in Denmark. A couple of translation tips:
Bolig = house.
Leje or Lejning = rental.

http://www.boligportal.dk/index.php
A membership fee is required.

http://www.lejebolig.dk/WebPages/Soegning.aspx
A membership fee is required.

http://www.expres-boligudlejning.dk/Denmark.htm

http://www.scandiahousing.dk/index.php

http://www.danishhomes.com/liste_rent.php
Their properties cover the upper range of the market.

http://www.muhldorff.dk/
Click Lejeboliger. Their properties are mostly in the city centre.

http://bolig.dba.dk/
Click Lejebolig for your desired city. A membership fee is required. This site is run by “Den Blå Avis” (the blue paper) which is a popular weekly buy and sell type publication.

http://copenhagen.craigslist.org/apa/
You can advertise free under “housing wanted”. However, if anyone emails you in response to your posting, be very wary whether he/she is a legitimate landlord or a con artist.

http://www.city-udlejning.dk/
The following Danish expressions are used on this site:
Ledig = available.
Ledig nu = available now.
Udlejet = already let out.

http://www.boligkontoret.com/boliger.htm

http://www.boligavisen.info/asp/frames.htm

Helpful member Carl also recommends a couple of links for housing companies. None are recommended above the others, as I’ve heard good and bad things about all. Make certain you also look in the classifieds section of the Copenhagen Post newspaper.

www.scandiahousing.dk
www.danishhomes.com
www.cityapartment.dk

Rooms to rent

Hi all,

Looking for a place to stay? How about some cozy accommodation in Vanløse.
* quiet private residence with a garden
* relaxed and informal
* 5 minutes walk from Danmarks 3rd biggest Metro/ train station
* 6 minutes from the center
* includes bed linen and towels

Rooms start at 450,- Dk pr night

Contact Linda:
Tlf nr: 38749985

Apartment landlord issues…

I am currently having some troubles with my DK landlord. I lived in Denmark (Aarhus) for 3 years and have now moved back to Canada.My landlord has kept all my rental deposit (26,700 DKK) and is trying to get me to pay more.There is no way the painting, etc. cost this much and he refuses to be reasonable and is threatening legal action.Does anyone know any resources for landlord/tennant dispute in Denmark for Canadians? The rental laws seem really confusing in DK, and any help would be appreciated.