1. What is a deposit and why do you pay it?
It’s a sum of money you pay when booking your VICO. If no incident happened during your stay, you’ll get your deposit back when you leave the VICO.
In short, it is a guarantee for you and for the landlord of the VICO.
- For you: Once you pay it, the room is yours. The landlord can’t consider any other renter.
- For the landlord:
- Guarantee in case of damage
- Guarantee in case of failure to respect the 30-day departure notice
The deposit is the only thing you will have to pay during the booking process.
Don’t get mixed up, when you book a room on the platform, you have to make one online payment. That payment corresponds to the deposit, not the rent. You will pay the rent afterwards.
2. How do you pay the deposit? Who receives it? How much is it?
You pay it by credit card or bank transfer on our platform at the end of the booking process. You will get a digital payment receipt as an official proof of payment.
The amount of the deposit is fixed by the landlord. It usually is between 500.000COP and 1.000.000COP. VICO keeps the money from the beginning until the end and refunds it when you leave.
3. Why do you pay it to VICO and not the landlord?
Unfortunately, we have experienced a lot of cases when landlords didn’t refund or make good use of the deposit. That’s why VICO keeps it. We only give it to the landlord in two cases.
We always advise the renter taking a video of the house when they arrive to have a tangible proof of the state of the house.
4. When do you get your deposit back and how?
After your departure, we’ll reimburse your deposit via the same payment method you used when you paid it (credit card, bank transfer to the initial account…).
There are only 2 rules to respect in order to get it back.
1. No damage done to the VICO
2. Respect the 30-day departure notice if you change your departure date
Email us at help@getvico.com when you leave your VICO to tell us how and in which currency you would like to receive your deposit. Warning: We will deduct the transaction costs and use the currency exchange rate dictated by our bank.
NB: 0% of the deposit will be received or used by VICO.
5. Refund when the 30-day departure notice is not respected
If you change your departure date and leave before the end of the 30-day departure notice, you won’t get your entire deposit back.
To be fair to both you and the landlord, VICO makes a ratio. The amount of the deposit given to the landlord is a ratio between:
- The the date you cancelled your contract (when you told VICO and the landlord your new departure date)
- The day you left the VICO.
The landlord will not receive the entire deposit, the host will not lose it entirely. The amount transferred to the landlord will be the result of the following calculation:
- Calculation of 1 day of rent = monthly rent/30
- Calculation of the days missing to complete the ongoing month
= Last day of the ongoing month – Departure day during the ongoing month - Calculation of the amount to pay
Amount of the deposit given to the landlord = (one day of rent) x (days missing to complete the ongoing month)
Example
Maria arrived in VICO Edith the 18th of January 2020. She booked the room n°5 until the 18th of June. The monthly rent of the 5th room of VICO Edith is 730.000 COP. When she booked her room, she payed a deposit of 500.000COP.
The coronavirus crisis made her come back to her parent’s house the 15th of April. She warned VICO and the landlord of her new departure date on the 02nd of April.
Since she left without respecting the 30-day departure notice, here is how the deposit refund will be calculated:
- Difference between cancellation date (April 02nd) and departure date (April 15th): 13 days
- Difference between departure date (April 15th) and end of the 30-day departure notice (May 02nd): 17 days
- Percentage of the deposit to give you back: 13/30 = 43% ==> 500.000 x 43% = 215.000 COP
- Percentage of the deposit to give to the landlord: 17/30 = 57% ==> 500.000 x 57% = 285.000 COP
You looking for a room to rent?
If you’re looking for an accommodation to rent in Medellin or Bogota, you can check out our guide to find the perfect room for rent here or visit getvico.com. You can also contact us by Whatsapp, we’ll help you to find the housing that fits your needs.
