Some landlords are still adding “dubious” agency costs to rental contracts even though this was ruled illegal by the Supreme Court 10 years ago, the Financieele Dagblad reported this weekend.

Landlords get round the double commission ruling by disguising their fees as administration or cleaning costs, and the shortage of rental problems means it is easy for them to get away with it, tenants’ organisations told the paper.

“It remains a stubborn problem,” said a spokesman for tenants rights group Woonbond. One in 12 complaints the agency deals with are related to commission fees, despite the ban and these, the spokesman said are “the tip of the iceberg”.

In 2015 the Supreme Court ruled that rental agents could not charge both the landlord and tenant a fee for organising a contract. While many have stopped the practice, Woonbond said, others are now charging tenants hundreds of euros in various costs.

“It does not matter what name they give it, these are costs which are theirs alone,” the spokesman said, adding that admin, key and other fees should be included in the rental price.

Tenants who have paid these extra fees often don’t bother to fight them and they are not dealt with by the rent tribunal Huurcommissie. This means tenants’ only recourse is to turn to the courts, which is an expensive process.

“That makes legal action unattractive,” Gert Jan Bakker from tenants’ rights foundation Stichting Woon told the FD. “The tenant is simply pleased that he or she has found a place to live.”

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