You can report any bad behaviour by a landlord (or a rental agent) to the municipality.

Are you from another EU country and you’re  working temporarily  in the Netherlands? Report matters to the municipality if:

• the tenancy agreement and the employment contract form a single document. This applies to contracts entered into after 1 July 2023.
• all written information pertaining to the tenancy agreement is written in a language that you, as a migrant worker, do not understand.

Contact the municipality to report any abuses through the website https://buitenbeter.nl/web/#/steenbergen?lang=nl, the ‘BuitenBeter’ app or the ‘MijnGemeente’ app.  You can download these apps on your mobile phone.

You can also report abuses anonymously. Please be aware that in that case, the municipality will not be able to get in touch with you. For example, the municipality cannot ask you any questions about the abuses. Nor can the municipality bring you in contact with organisations that can provide better assistance, such as the rent tribunal.

If you submit an application or a notification, the municipality will need your personal data. The municipality handles your personal data with care. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) sets out how the municipality is obliged to handle your personal data.

These are the most important rules:

• The municipality asks only for the data necessary to handle your application or notification. The municipality does not ask for other data.
• The municipality uses your data only to process your application, notification or any other matter directly related to this.
• The municipality does not retain your personal data longer than necessary.
• The municipality ensures that your personal data is safe.
• Only individuals who need your data to perform their job, have access to your data.
• Other organisations will only receive your data if this is a legal obligation.
• Upon your request, the municipality will inform you:
• what data they have about you
• why this data is needed
• what happens to your data.
• Is your data incorrect? In that case, you can request that the municipality correct it.