This Dutch landlord just gifted a house to her tenant (and they only met once)

He couldn’t believe his ears ☎️

A Dutchman from Vaals, South Limburg, went from tenant to homeowner in just one call — all because his landlord left a home to him.

In May, Bram Brekelmans, 33, was informed that his 87-year-old landlord had passed away.

Next thing he knew, the house he rented was his: he had inherited it through her will. 

It was meant to be

Bram had actually owned this house before. He had bought it with his now ex-wife in 2016, only to sell it four years later upon getting divorced. 

The new owner had allowed him to rent it so that his two young children would have some stability by continuing to live there.

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Bram, however, still craved more security and harboured the dream of buying the house back. Last year, he seriously looked into it. He had the house appraised and found out it was worth €255,000. 

Helaas, that was too much. It looked like his home-owning goals would remain a dream — that is, until last May, when he found out about his late-landlord’s generous gift. 

Now, after paying €75,000 inheritance tax — instead of the hundreds of thousands needed to buy it — he gets to watch his children grow up in a home he owns. And it’s all thanks to a woman he had only met once, he tells RTL.

Well, that certainly is a change from the usual Dutch landlord. 🫣

One generous lady

There’s more: Bram might not even be the only lucky one. Apparently, he has been getting calls from other ex-tenants of the rather mysterious Limburg landlord. 

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All we know about her is that she owned approximately sixteen properties, acquired throughout a lifetime of work in the produce and gardening business. 

Having no close family, she made the selfless decision to change some of her tenants’ lives upon her death. Kudos to her!

What do you think of this landlord’s decision? Leave your thoughts on this story in the comments below. 

Feature image:Freepik

Accuracy, clarity, and a touch of humour — that’s DutchReview. Read our editorial mission.

Beatrice Scali 🇮🇹
Beatrice Scali 🇮🇹
Five years after spreading her wings away from her beloved Genova, Bia has just landed at DutchReview as an editorial intern. She has lived in China, Slovenia, Taiwan, and — natuurlijk — the Netherlands, where she just completed her bachelor’s in International Studies. When she’s not reciting unsolicited facts about the countries she’s lived in, she is writing them down. Her biggest dreams include lobbying the Dutch government into forcing oliebollen stands to operate year-round, and becoming a journalist. In this order.

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