Posted by
sblossom
11 yrs ago
Here is our situation. Lived in the same apt for 4 yrs ( since we moved to HK). Take care of this place like its our home. Original landlords were terrific as we are terrific easy going tenants. Dec the apt was sold to this local Chinese guy. Nothing against Chinese landlords! So our 2 yr lease ends July 25th, no word from landlord so I SMS him early June to ask what his intent is with the lease terms. He first wanted to come around to look at the apt, and we let him even though I just returned from the hospital with a new born. After viewing he raised the rent by 20%! Out of our budget so we confirmed on the 20th of June that we will be moving out. When I fist SMS him on June 6th I told him we are leaving hk for the summer on July 3rd so will need to sort everything out before hand, when he came around I reiterated that if the terms don't work out we will be moving out on July 3rd. So now he wants to charge us a full months rent for July even though we will return the apt to him on the 3rd. We offered to pay half of July rent as compromise but he said no, because we didn't give him the require 2 mths notice, this means end of May when I was having a baby! We think he is being unreasonable, and blood sucking.. After all he didn't contact us till we reached out to him. And by then the 2 mth notice is moot since it was already June and lease end July. We feel Loathed to give him 3 free weeks especially when he's been pretty nasty about the who thing. What do others think?!! Should we just suck it up and pay him and forget about it or is there other means we can use to reason with him?
Please support our advertisers:
suck it up and pay since you are in the wrong (regardless of whether you had a baby or not). if your contract says 2 months notice and you contacted him by early June then you are too late
Please support our advertisers:
As your lease ends July 25th you do need to pay your rent up until that date unless or course you gave the required amount of notice as stated in your lease, which you failed to do. Unfortunately, you do need to suck it up as should he take you to court excuses of having a baby or the fact that he has been pretty nasty won't wash. The 20% increase sucks though especially as rents are dropping.
Please support our advertisers:
Thanks guys for weighing in.my question is then doesnt the landlord also have obligation to contact tentant 2 mths before the end of the lease?
Please support our advertisers:
Remove the emotion and you'll see more clearly:
You contracted to use his property for a fixed amount of time. You now want to end the contract early and not pay. On top of that you want to end the contract with only a couple weeks' notice - this will never work.
No landlord in the world will allow a tenant out of a contract with such little notice.
Please support our advertisers:
Have a look at these Government site. They invite calls for tenancy matters... Probably best idea is to call them.
http://www.gov.hk/en/residents/housing/private/buying/rentingDomesticProperty.htm
http://www.rvd.gov.hk/en/public_services/tenancy_matters.html
http://www.dutylawyer.org.hk/en/free/free.asp
Please support our advertisers:
Actually I'm trying to be fair about this. I notified him on June 5th and offered to pay half of the last months rent even though effectively he gets the apt back all of July and can potentially rent out by end of the month. Beyond this we've had another encounter with him on a leak in the apt that left a less than desirable feeling. anyhow, contracts are contracts, but we are not robots and didnt appreciate his handling and attitude. but I am hearing all of you..thanks!
Please support our advertisers:
Maybe you're making the wrong assumption that he can rent the flat immediately...maybe he will need to fix the flat first, thus spending a little bit or more. 4 years is a long time, there must be a lot of wear and tear however careful you were.
Please support our advertisers:
The landlord has no obligation to contact you two months before the lease is up. If you wanted to renew it would be up to you to contact the landlord. Some landlords of course do get in touch and have a good relationship with their tenants, seems like you have had a bad experience with yours unfortunately. As Punter says if he is leasing the flat out again it will need some attention which could take a few weeks. But as you say a contract is a contract and there is no getting out of that.
Please support our advertisers:
abl
11 yrs ago
All seems reasonable. If nobody contacts anybody else, contract is assumed to run its natural course. If YOU want to end the contract prematurely, YOU have to contact him first and still give two months notice. Afraid you are the one who is being difficult here.
Please support our advertisers:
"Thanks guys for weighing in.my question is then doesnt the landlord also have obligation to contact tentant 2 mths before the end of the lease?"
that's an easy one: the answer is no as per HK laws
Please support our advertisers:
If you're paying for the rent until the end of your lease (i.e. July 25) then don't hand over the keys until that day. You can vacate early but you don't need to hand over the keys right away.
Please support our advertisers:
A 20% increase on a lease that was a renewal two years ago is, more than likely, in line with current pricing. Especially if you've been in the apartment for four years, and there is a new owner. Your previous owner would have based their rental increases on a yield of the purchase cost from years ago. Rental increases for long-term owners are often more conservative. Yes, the new owner bought an investment property to make a return.
People like to harp on about rental prices coming down, but I'm not seeing it. Numbers of sale transactions are down, but sale prices haven't shifted much. The sheer number of people being pushed away from buying into the rental market is keeping rents high.
As for your "Landlord from hell," he's not the one trying to break contract terms to get out of his obligations.
Please support our advertisers:
I don't like the fact that in Hong Kong you must (typically) sign a contract for at least 12 months, however a contract is a contract. I would say 'suck it up' is your only feasible option.
Please support our advertisers:
i fail to see the problem except a lack of communication from landlord.. even if he had contacted you, the agreement is still until the set date. him contacting you or not has no relevance to the fact you want to break the lease early?
Please support our advertisers:
You must be logged in to be able to reply.
Login now
Copy Link
Facebook
Gmail
Mail