Community › Forums › Legal Advice India › B’lore Owner refusing to return my token amount after I changed my mind
- This topic has 17 replies, 17 voices, and was last updated 1 year, 4 months ago by
Niharikarider869.
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UUser_2e1875bc
PARTICIPANT
February 21, 2025 at 10:10 amHello everyone. I’m a 24F working in Blr. Recently I was on a hunt for a good separate room in a big apartment w flatmates for myself. I checked out this place few days ago and absolutely LOVED it. Although it was a little over my budget, I still went ahead. I spoke to the flatmates for almost 2 hours and didn’t find any red flags and thought everything is as per my needs.I even put down a token amount of 25k before leaving the apartment when I went to visit. But the next day I did some math and realised that paying deposit, maintenance, rent and the setup cost for the apartment was too big of an amount (1.2 lakhs total upfront) for me to put upfront and that it is not a wise financial decision to lock a big amount like that.
So I called the owner the next day to tell him I’m no longer interested and that he should refund my token amount. And he refused saying tokens are non refundable and that I should find a replacement and he would consider the token paid.
His property manager forwarded me this message earlier today
“The token is always non refundable as was conveyed to her prior transaction. The decision on her part was made after thought.
A relatively big amount was quoted so that we don’t entertain non-serious prospects and avoid situations exactly like this one.
We declined other people because of her and we face the loss due to her careless and hurried decision. She was not forced to put down the token, she did so as a functioning adult capable of taking decisions.If decisions like this could be flipped, then what purpose would token amounts serve? It would be useless to collect tokens.
There are only two things we can do for her here:
1. If she is able to find someone to take her spot from March 1st, we can accept and consider the entire token amount to be given to us by the replacement.
2. We can refund 20k to her from our end if and only if we are able to find a replacement by March 1st. The 5k will be withheld as penalty charges for our losses.
3. If we are unable to find a replacement by March 1st, the 25k is forfeited.Her unprofessional behaviour has cost us convertible leads. And hence there must be compensation for the same.
Incase she disagrees to this arrangement, clarify to her that this is a civil matter not a cybercrime matter and that she should file it in the civil court. She will hear from my lawyer if and after she chooses to do so.”
25k token amount is big amount for me and cannot afford to lose it. What should I do? Any advice and help is highly appreciated.
Thanks
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CCalmhawk6365
PARTICIPANT
February 21, 2025 at 10:18 amGo to bangalore sub and contact stbroseph -
UUser_2d5deaa3
PARTICIPANT
February 21, 2025 at 10:20 amYou cannot do anything about it. Token amount is always non returnable -
NNiharikarider869
PARTICIPANT
February 21, 2025 at 10:21 amLooks fair on the owner’s part. Token advance should be refundable only if owner can find an alternate tenant.ΒThe owner can claim he lost leads, no way to prove it.Β
There are consequences for our decisions, owners also invest significant time and energy in renting out the property. So prospects should not be able to just give a token and then renege without consequences.Β
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UUser_ace2a77b
PARTICIPANT
February 21, 2025 at 10:38 amNice try landlord’s account.-
NNiharikarider869
PARTICIPANT
February 21, 2025 at 10:50 amI am a renter for a long time in Bangalore, have had my share of landlord troubles, nothing very bad compared to what some renters face.But expecting owner to immediately return token advance due to prospect changing their mind is too much.
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UUser_f5c5d2b8
PARTICIPANT
February 21, 2025 at 10:23 amOP, donβt get into all this chaos. you made a mistake. token amounts are non refundable. forget it and move on. I understand the sentiment but not worth dragging this… -
UUser_2f0b4085
PARTICIPANT
February 21, 2025 at 10:28 amThe whole purpose of token amount is so that you donβt change your mind.Owner does not owe you anything. You forfiet the token amount unless you had a written understanding that the token amount will be returned.
Even if they find a tenant, they returning the amount will only be in good will. They donβt have to return anything.
You should only pay after you have made up your mind.
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PPrimehawk33
PARTICIPANT
February 21, 2025 at 10:35 amThis is how tokens work. Cut your losses op, either stick with this place itself or hope they find someone by March. The owner here seems to be pretty considerate saying he will return the money if xx condition is met. Most people would just wave bye as you kept making noise π -
RRapidrider1855
PARTICIPANT
February 21, 2025 at 10:42 amIn Mumbai, token is refundable. We had given our flat in rent and token is refundable -
PPrimefalcon577
PARTICIPANT
February 21, 2025 at 10:46 amToken is non refundable true .. why would u pay such high money initially..
Only if a person has a good heart he will return a token or else most of them won’t.. -
CCleverpanda4290
PARTICIPANT
February 21, 2025 at 10:53 amTry looking for another person to take the place and take the money from them -
BBraveanvi8270
PARTICIPANT
February 21, 2025 at 10:54 amOwner is too nice and very genuine but seem to be knowing his stuff well -
SSoniaeagle333
PARTICIPANT
February 21, 2025 at 11:02 amtoken amount is non refundable ….. these landlords don’t even return security money. -
SSaurabhwolf522
PARTICIPANT
February 21, 2025 at 11:22 amThe token amount is not returnable. It’s gone. -
AAlphasmriti6948
PARTICIPANT
February 21, 2025 at 12:07 pmwhile I agree with the owner its a potential loss for him but he can’t forfeit any big amount in the name of token money especially when its just 1-2 days of time, but if u have wasted his weekend then he might deduct some more money as enquiries r usually more in those 2 days. in any case u better take chance and take the help of local police, time loss and mental harassment ka bhi case lagao, its a pre thought harassment for just 1 day miss -
UUser_ba014e62
PARTICIPANT
February 21, 2025 at 12:16 pmFirstly, who pays 25k as a token amount when being indecisive?
Token amounts are usually 5k to 10k max and most people do refund it when you explain your circumstances.My suggestion is to call them and instead of saying you cannot afford it, tell them you were unable to raise the funds due to personal/family emergency and would appreciate if they can return the amount.
This usually works.
Negotiate for return of minimum 20k . -
AAlphaeagle7623
PARTICIPANT
February 21, 2025 at 6:15 pmWowhhh I didn’t realise token amount are non refundable
I thought it was just something we began to expect. (Normalise)I am glad mine was different ππ
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