Refund being wrongly withheld by Central Development

Good Day

My lease for Unit 250 @The Junction 2, was due to expire on the 31 of August 2019. Before that I had not received any communication from Central Development, except for a phone call from Pardon Ndebele, asking me if I want to renew it or not, and I told him that we will not be renewing. That was on the first week on August on a Monday.

I was expecting an email with a letter confirming cancellation, but that email did not come up until later in the week (I have the email on my records). I received the letter on the 7th of August 2019, which I immidiately completed and set back but then I got the below response from him:

"Good Day

Please find attached termination letter. Please note that you will forfeit your deposit because the lease agreements states that terminations should be submitted 20 business days prior to the expiry of your Lease. There are 17 business days left in August. That means you fall short by 3 days."

I do not understand why the letter was not emailed to me earlier or sent to my unit to complete.

This past Monday I received a mail confirming that my deposit of R5 500.00 will not be paid to me because I fall short of 3 days. 3 days???? I have been an upstanding tenant at the Junction for the past year, paying my rent on time and all the time. But now this is happening.

Central Development has no right to withhold my deposit, especially after no correspondence was sent to me, ON TIME. It is just wrong and I will not stand for it or let this lie down.

I did give notice, when the form was sent to me.

The way Central Development treats tenants once they move out is just appalling.

I need my refund, and I will be taking this matter further to the Renting Tribunal as well. You can be assured of that.