Problems with collecting rent
My now ex-girlfriend has an appartement in Jida she rents out. The woman that rents it from her started renting maybe 6 months ago. She paid deposit no problem and first couple of months rent always came on time. But now for two months she has not given rent. My ex-girlfriend is not living in Zhuhai right now and thus can't go to the apartment in person to ask her what is going on. So she asked me to try and help her with this by popping by that place and asking some questions wich I wll do tomorrow. But other than just going round and asking why she is not paying rent are there any official agencies or anything I can go to try and collect?
What should one do in such a situation? Any advice appreciated
Talk to the agent that help you rented the place.
Unfortunately the police in China does not get involve (unless you pay them on the side) in rental disputes.
If she applied for the permit to rent the apartment legally then she can kick out the tenants and keep their deposit and she can ask help from the police. If she is renting the apartment illegally without this permit (as most landlords do) then she will get in trouble herself by asking the police to help and may be fined.
Best to put an ad in the Properties Forum.
And this is not a jab at you Sidney, but why do landlords ask for (and get) 2 months deposit in Zhuhai?
I think two months deposit is a very low number if you look at the value of the possible damage a renter can leave .vs the actual value of the deposit.
Renter just disappears without leaving a trace and the washing machine is broken? tv is broken? Some furniture is seriously damaged?
In this case the deposit would be at least 6700. And I know that it would be very easy for a renter to possibly leave damage way higher than that. So combined with not paying rent and disappearing and the possible damage I think two months deposit is actually quite on the low side.
Why do you think it is too high? What kind of guarantee would one months deposit give to a landlord?
And yeah I think you are right should post this in the property section as well! Thanks for the advice!
The deposit is simply to make sure people take good care of the place. Our landlady called recently and wanted to a deposit, we originally paid two months, but the electric and gas has been subtracted from it leaving not much.
The day she called, she explained that another of her apartments had just been abandoned by the tenants without them telling, and it was in very bad shape (a HuaFa phase 5 apartment, so only a couple of years old) No details on what she means by "bad shape" (or if that is even what she said, who knows what happens during translation), but we did at some point see an apartment, also in phase 5, where the owners had "lived for a few months" and in my opinion that was ready for a full renovation.
I think 2 months is too high only because no where else that I know of asks for more than one month. Are Zhuhai renters less responsible than anywhere else in China?
zhuhai is renter market simply there is over supply of empty houses. My family only rent to macau, hong kong and overseas people but only has for one month deposit. Overall they are very positive but their expectation are high. Fix stuff immediately when it's broken. I guess it's give and take.
@DaveB
Have to agree. I have been here over 3 years and never paid more than one months deposit and I have had some nice places with jacuzzis and other things included.
The agents do have access to more properties and if you know what you want, and the prices of the agents are crazy, but if you know people that know Zhuhai .............. just have a look. There is some very nice properties here for some great prices.
If you don't have a car, take a taxi to look.
other places Where the deposit is 1 month usually ask you to prepay minimum 3 months rent in advance. And sometimes - 6 months to a year. Here we pay month by month.
Shanghai is one month deposit, no prepayment required. Though if you are willing to prepay, you can negotiate a cheaper price. I was able to get a 6% discount by paying in three month installments.
good to know :)
apartment has been rented out @3200 rmb a month to a nice mixed American-Chinese couple! Just want to point out that I listed it here in this topic at 3350rmb because people usually want to negotiate the price.. so if I liste the price we want for it there is no more room for negotiation
thanks for the advice! the woman has left the apartment without paying the backrent so we kept the deposit. Not perfect solution but in the end best to just move on and look for new renters. I am helping my ex-gf find new people to rent the place because she is out of town.
The apartment is in Silver Art Hotel near the HSBC in jida. Nearby is a MC Donalds, Papa Johns pizza, Vanguard supermarket. Also very near is the duty free shopping center with Pizza Hut , Starbucks, Subway, Carrefour supermarket. The location is perfect for an expat. I would say Jida in general is the best area for a foreigner to live in Zhuhai.
The apartment has two bedrooms, One big bedroom with king size bed and one smaller bedroom with also smaller bed. Comfortable living room. Good enough kitchen and small balcony with washing machine where you can also dry you clothes. It is on the 26th floor wich is the highest floor in that building that has apartments. There is a 27th floor as well but there are no apartments on that floor, it is one big company that owns that entire floor and uses it as office space. So you would be on the top floor for the building.
So if anyone is looking for an apartment in the JIDA area please contact me/Sid on 15819427935
I took some pics couple of days ago so you can have an idea what the place looks like :
http://imgur.com/a/JK9cn#0
Pictures are not the best but if anyone wants to take a look at the flat just give me a call on 15819427935
The monthly rent is 3350RMB this does not include any bills or building management fee.
Two months deposit.
No agent fee , rent direct from owner.
I would prefer to find someone to rent myself because I hate real estate agents and would not want to help them make money.