An accusation of housing fraud does not automatically mean that you will lose your rented home. The landlord must make clear which obligation he believes has been breached and on which facts he relies. No main residence, prohibited subletting, tourist letting and incorrect information are different allegations. Respond to each subject separately, gather evidence of the actual use and do not sign a declaration that you will leave without understanding the consequences.
Have you received a writ of summons, or has an eviction been announced? Have it established immediately which proceedings are pending and when you must respond. An ongoing conversation about the investigation does not replace your response in the proceedings. Particularly with accusations about occupancy, a complete picture over time can be more important than a single snapshot.
What is meant by housing fraud?
Housing fraud is a collective term. A landlord may use it to mean that you do not live in the home yourself, that you let the home to others without permission, or that the use does not correspond with what was agreed. The term itself is not yet a worked-out legal ground for dissolution.
So ask what exactly you are being accused of. Which provision of the tenancy agreement or the general terms and conditions is said to have been breached? Which period does it concern? Is it a suspicion, or is there concrete data? Without that delineation, there is a risk that you respond on one subject while the landlord means another.
A civil tenancy dispute must also be distinguished from a municipal investigation into housing rules, registration or tourist letting. Those procedures may concern the same facts, but they have their own decisions, sanctions and time limits. Send all relevant letters for advice, not just those from the landlord.
What does main residence mean for a rented home?
Main residence concerns where the centre of your day-to-day living actually lies. Your pattern of stay, furnishings, personal belongings and daily activities may play a role. It is not purely an administrative question, nor can it always be reduced to a fixed number of nights per week.
Check whether your agreement contains an obligation to use the home as your main residence and how it is worded. The assessment of a social rented home that has been empty for a long time may differ from that of another contract with different arrangements on use. The reason for your absence may also be relevant.
Do not assume that every night spent at a partner’s home amounts to a breach. Conversely, sleeping in the home now and then does not in itself prove that your actual main residence is there. Describe the actual pattern honestly and have it assessed in conjunction with the agreement.
Registration in the BRP is not the whole evidence
Your registration in the Personal Records Database (Basisregistratie Personen, BRP) may be relevant, but it does not by itself determine where you actually live or which tenancy arrangements have been complied with. Being registered at the rental address therefore does not prevent every discussion about main residence.
If the registration does not reflect reality, that must be discussed separately and, where necessary, corrected through the proper channels. Do not change data in order to create an incorrect picture for the proceedings after the event. An incorrect statement can cause new problems and damage your credibility.
In addition to registration data, gather other information about how you live there. Think of the actual use of the home, personal belongings, daily activities and correspondence. What matters is a coherent picture over the relevant period, not a single piece of evidence that automatically rules out all other facts.
Temporary absence due to work, care or staying elsewhere
A hospital admission, informal care situation, period of work elsewhere or a temporary stay with family may explain why you are at home less. That does not mean that every prolonged absence is permitted under the contract. The duration, intention, actual return and arrangements made must be examined.
Record when the absence began, why it was necessary and when you returned or expect to return. Keep any permission or earlier correspondence with the landlord. If you did not report anything, tell your adviser honestly and discuss what this means.
Share medical or other sensitive information only to the extent necessary. Sometimes a targeted confirmation of a period is sufficient and an entire file does not need to be provided. Let your adviser assess which information is relevant and how it can be submitted with care.
Having someone to stay is not always subletting
A house guest and a subtenant do not automatically have the same position. Relevant factors include the duration, the arrangements, the use of the home and any consideration given in return. Even use free of charge can be contractually relevant if the agreement restricts giving the home into the use of third parties.
So do not only describe the label you yourself give to the situation. Who stayed in the home, which rooms were used, did that person have independent access and what was agreed about money or costs? Messages and payments can help to understand the actual arrangement.
A family relationship does not automatically rule out a prohibited arrangement for use. Conversely, paying a contribution towards groceries does not turn every stay into subletting. The facts and the applicable contractual rules must be assessed together.
Subletting the whole home or letting someone use a room
The legal difference between the whole home and part of it can be important. Article 7:244 of the Civil Code contains rules on giving residential accommodation into the use of others, with a specific position for part of a self-contained home in which the tenant has his main residence. Contractual provisions may limit the options. See also the government information on subletting.
So do not let a room on the basis of a general rule found on the internet. Read the tenancy agreement and general terms and conditions, check any permission and also look into municipal regulations. Permission from one authority does not automatically replace permission that is required on another ground.
If subletting has already arisen, do not end or change that situation hastily without advice. A subtenant may have rights of his own. A solution to your conflict with the head landlord must not unnoticed cause a new dispute with the occupant. Have the position of everyone involved assessed.
Airbnb and other tourist letting
Tourist letting can raise various legal questions: contractual permission, municipal rules and the actual use as a main residence. The fact that a platform accepts a listing says nothing decisive about your landlord’s permission.
A municipal registration or permit does not automatically give you the right to let in breach of your tenancy agreement either. Conversely, the landlord’s consent does not make every local rule superfluous. So keep a separate record of which permissions were requested and granted.
If the landlord relies on a listing, check what it proves. Is the listing yours, was it active, did bookings take place and which period does it concern? Give a truthful explanation. Removing a listing does not prove that there was no earlier use.
What can the landlord use as evidence?
An investigation may consist of home visits, statements, public listings, correspondence and data on the use of the home. The evidential value differs from one item to another. A missed home visit says less about a whole year than a consistent pattern supported by several concrete sources.
Check the period to which the data relate. Low consumption during a demonstrable hospital stay or renovation may have a different explanation than a home that has stood empty for a long time. A statement from a neighbour must be read for what was actually observed, not only for the conclusion drawn from it.
Also have your adviser assess whether the landlord was allowed to obtain and use certain data. A discussion about that does not automatically replace a substantive response to the facts. It may be necessary to raise both the reliability and context and the lawfulness of an investigation.
Home visit by the landlord or housing association
Ask who is making the visit, for what purpose and on which arrangement or power it is based. A landlord does not have an unlimited right to enter your home at any time without permission. At the same time, reasonable obligations to cooperate with certain inspections may exist.
If you are not at home or the visit is inconvenient, respond in writing and discuss a suitable follow-up appointment. An unanswered visit may give rise to questions, but it is not in itself conclusive evidence that you do not live there. Several circumstances together may, however, become relevant.
Ask for a report afterwards if conclusions about occupancy are drawn during the visit. Correct factual inaccuracies specifically and in good time. If you signed something you did not properly understand, keep the document and discuss immediately what exactly was declared.
How to build an honest evidence file
Start with a timeline of your occupancy. Note periods of absence, who had access at the time and which arrangements were in place. Add the tenancy agreement, general terms and conditions and any written permission. Make clear which document supports which period or arrangement.
Use data that actually exist. Think of earlier correspondence, photos with relevant context, arrangements about maintenance or statements from people with their own observations. Keep statements factual: what did someone see, when and how often? A general statement that you are “a good tenant” does not answer the main residence question.
Do not take photos intended to suggest a different occupancy situation after the event, and do not ask anyone to sign an incorrect statement. A strong file does not have to be favourable on every point. It must be reliable enough to distinguish between correct suspicions, wrong conclusions and circumstances that call for an explanation.
Responding to an investigation letter
First write down which allegations you recognise and which you do not. Ask the landlord for concrete substantiation of parts that are too general. Then respond per period and per subject. Avoid a long letter in which main residence, complaints about maintenance and personal accusations are mixed up.
A useful structure is: the alleged fact, your explanation, the evidence and your request. For example, that you were absent in a particular month because of temporary care, which confirmation of this is available and why you dispute the conclusion that you had left permanently. Adapt the arguments to the contractual provision that actually applies.
Do not unintentionally admit more than you mean to. “I mostly live with my partner” can have a different meaning than an explanation about a temporary period. Do not use artificial wording to conceal facts, but do have it assessed whether your text accurately describes the actual pattern.
Do you have to sign a statement or a notice of termination?
An investigation interview may end with a request to sign a statement, a termination agreement or a notice of termination of the tenancy. Such a signature can have consequences for evidence and for your right to live in the home. Ask for a copy and time to have the text assessed.
Check whether the document only summarises a conversation or also contains consent to leave. Does it include an admission of subletting, a penalty, the handing over of proceeds or a waiver of rights? A title such as “record of conversation” does not tell you everything about the legal content.
If you want to stay living there, say so clearly and do not sign an agreement to leave solely because you feel under pressure. If, on the other hand, you want to discuss an arrangement for leaving, settle the date, deposit, handover of the home, any debt and other conditions. A deliberate arrangement requires an overview of all the consequences.
What if a breach did take place?
Discuss the facts honestly with your adviser. It can then be assessed which obligation was breached, how serious that is and which measures are still possible. Ending a prohibited situation may be relevant, but it does not automatically undo earlier events.
Record what you have put right and how a repetition will be prevented. Think of ending a listing, requesting appropriate permission or a clear arrangement with another occupant. Have it assessed in advance how the remedy relates to any rights of that occupant.
Personal circumstances and the consequences of dissolution may also play a role. They do not give licence for prohibited use, but they must be raised in the right way. A substantiated proposal for continuation is something different from merely asking for understanding.
Dissolution and eviction in proceedings
The landlord can ask the court to terminate the tenancy and have the home vacated. Respond in time and have the evidence assessed. The question is not solely whether one contractual provision has been breached, but also which legal consequences the established breach justifies in the circumstances.
In interim relief proceedings (kort geding), urgency and the provisional assessment also play a role. The short preparation time makes it important to gather the right documents immediately. Do not wait for the outcome of an internal complaints investigation if the hearing date comes earlier.
If the court has already decided, have the options and time limits for an appeal and any measure against enforcement checked. Read what to do after receiving an eviction judgment. A new statement to the housing association does not replace a timely procedural step.
A fictitious example of context in a suspicion
A landlord finds that a tenant is absent during two home visits and receives a report that a family member regularly stays in the home. The tenant explains that he is temporarily providing informal care and shows earlier correspondence about that period. He also describes what arrangement exists with the family member and whether permission was given for it.
That gives the landlord and any court more information than just a copy of the BRP registration. It does not automatically mean that all contractual conditions have been met. The duration of the absence, the content of the agreement and the actual use remain relevant.
The example is fictitious and does not describe a result achieved by our firm. It shows why a suspicion must be investigated and why a factual explanation is more important than merely contesting the label “housing fraud”.
Assess penalties and claimed proceeds separately
Sometimes the landlord claims, in addition to eviction, a contractual penalty, damages or the handing over of amounts received. These are separate claims. Ask on which provision each item is based and how the amount was calculated. The existence of a penalty clause does not mean that every amount claimed is owed without review.
So also keep records of any income and expenditure. Have it assessed whether the terms and conditions apply, whether a clause stands up against a consumer and what response to the calculation is needed. A defence that only concerns main residence may otherwise leave these financial claims unanswered.
Frequently asked questions about housing fraud and main residence
How many nights must I sleep in my rented home?
There is no general number that decides every main residence dispute. The contract and the whole of your actual occupancy are important. An occasional night elsewhere is something different from a structurally different home address.
Does low energy consumption prove that I do not live at home?
Not on its own in every situation. Consumption can be an indication, but it requires context and comparison with other data. Substantiate a relevant explanation, for example a temporary absence or a special living situation.
May a family member stay in my home free of charge?
That depends on the duration, the nature of the use and the applicable arrangements. Giving the home into use free of charge can also be contractually restricted. A family relationship is not an automatic exception.
Is permission from the municipality enough for Airbnb?
No, not automatically. Municipal rules and your tenancy agreement are different frameworks. Check both and keep the permissions required for your situation.
Can I stay if the subletting has since stopped?
That is not automatically settled. Putting things right may be relevant, but the earlier breach and other circumstances remain part of the assessment. Have the complete file assessed.
Help with an accusation of housing fraud
Submit the investigation letter, your tenancy agreement, general terms and conditions and any writ of summons to Arslan Advocaten. Describe which period the allegation concerns and which permission or evidence is available. That makes it possible to discuss how you respond factually and legally.
Legal framework and sources
Relevant provisions include article 7:213 of the Civil Code, article 7:244 of the Civil Code, article 6:265 of the Civil Code and article 7:231 of the Civil Code, alongside your agreement and any municipal rules. Published case law includes subletting in breach of general terms and conditions, ECLI:NL:GHDHA:2025:333. The outcome of another case must not be applied to your situation without comparison.
