Tenant's water and electricity were cut off after not renewing the lease or moving out. Tenant claimed that the Cordyceps was damaged and his claim for 100,000 yuan was rejected
2024-08-12
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Recently, the Dongcheng District People's Court of Beijing heard a housing lease dispute case. The tenant did not renew the lease or move out after the lease expired. After the water and electricity were cut off, he sued the landlord for compensation on the grounds that the Cordyceps in the refrigerator was damaged. In this regard, the Dongcheng Court held that the landlord had fulfilled the obligation of advance notice and reserved reasonable preparation time, and the tenant had the obligation to prevent losses on its own. The court ruled that the lease contract between the two parties was terminated and rejected the tenant's claim for losses.
Tenant claims that after water and power outage, Cordyceps worth more than 100,000 yuan was soaked
On May 12, 2021, Li signed a house rental contract with Ding for a house, agreeing to a one-year lease, and Li paid the rent and deposit. After the contract expired, the two parties had discussed vacating the house or renewing the contract many times, but Li did not vacate the house or renew the contract for his own reasons. Since June 12, 2022, Li has been in arrears with rent, and Ding has repeatedly urged Li to pay the rent and move out of the house involved in the case through WeChat, phone calls, and text messages. Li has never paid the rent or moved out of the house involved in the case.
On November 21, 2022, Ding contacted Li again by phone to urge him to pay the overdue rent and asked him to vacate the house involved in the case, otherwise he would cut off the water and electricity. He then sent a written notice to Li via WeChat and posted it on the house involved in the case, ordering Li to move out of the house involved within 30 days. If he did not move out within the deadline, he would cut off the water and electricity, and attached a list of the amount of rent owed by Li. But Li never paid any attention. On December 31, 2022, at Ding's request, the property cut off the water and electricity to the house involved in the case.
Ding filed a lawsuit with the Dongcheng Court, requesting a judgment to terminate the lease with Li and requiring Li to vacate the house and return it to him. Li agreed to terminate the contract and vacate the house, but expressed the hope that the court would give him reasonable time to prepare. At the same time, Li said that he had stored about 150 grams of cordyceps in the refrigerator of the house involved in the case, and the cordyceps was inedible after being soaked in water due to the power outage. Li filed a counterclaim, requesting that Ding compensate him for his losses of 103,488 yuan, but did not provide the original purchase receipt or relevant evidence of the actual storage of the cordyceps.
Ding believes that the lease relationship between the two parties was terminated on November 24, 2022. In order to ensure the safety of the house, it is reasonable to cut off water and electricity. He has fulfilled his obligation to give advance notice, and Li has sufficient time to deal with the belongings, so he does not agree to compensation.
Court: The landlord gave advance notice and there was nothing wrong with it
After trial, the Dongcheng Court held that if the lease term expires and the lessee continues to use the leased property without the lessor raising any objection, the original lease contract will remain valid, but the lease term is indefinite. The parties to an indefinite lease can terminate the contract at any time, but they should notify the other party in a reasonable period of time. Now the lessor Ding requested to terminate the contract and vacate the house, and the lessee Li also agreed. Therefore, the court ruled to confirm that the housing lease contract between the plaintiff Ding and the defendant Li was terminated, and Li vacated the house in question and returned it to Ding.
Regarding Li's request for compensation, the court held that Li had repeatedly violated the agreement negotiated by both parties, failed to sign a renewal contract or vacate the house, and still failed to pay the rent on time after repeated reminders. Ding did not act improperly in cutting off the water and electricity to protect his rights after notifying the defendant in advance. Li never told Ding that there were cordyceps stored in the house in question, nor did he submit relevant evidence of purchase to prove that cordyceps was stored. Even if Li had stored cordyceps in the house in question, he had the obligation to prevent losses after Li notified Ding in advance of the water and electricity cut-off. The court ruled to dismiss Li's counterclaim for cordyceps losses.
After the first instance verdict was announced, Li was dissatisfied with the verdict and filed an appeal, but the second instance verdict upheld the original verdict. The verdict of the case is now effective.
Beijing News reporter Mu Hongju, correspondent Zhang Huirong
Edited by Gan Hao
Proofread by Zhao Lin
