why do young people keep falling into big and small traps when renting a house?
2024-09-01
한어Русский языкEnglishFrançaisIndonesianSanskrit日本語DeutschPortuguêsΕλληνικάespañolItalianoSuomalainenLatina
investigation motivation
"i thought my first time renting a house was smooth, but when i moved out i found out the 'pitfalls' of renting a house were just a little late." recently, ms. li, who works in wuhan, hubei, reported the house renting problem to reporters, saying that she and many of her classmates encountered the "pitfalls" of renting a house after graduation.
ms. li graduated from university last year and rented a house near her workplace in july of that year for a period of one year. "at that time, i heard from many classmates that they encountered 'pitfalls' when renting a house, such as the agent publishing false listings, and finding that the formaldehyde in the room exceeded the standard after moving in. i didn't encounter these situations myself, and i felt very lucky. i didn't expect that trouble would come when i moved out in july this year." ms. li said that the landlord deducted her 800 yuan deposit for various reasons.
"many young people around me lamented that renting a house has become the 'first lesson' that graduates learn when entering society." ms. li said that she hopes relevant departments will regulate the rental market and crack down on illegal and irregular activities.
to this end, the reporter launched an investigation.
after graduating from university, ms. li went to work in wuhan, hubei, and rented a house there for a year. when she checked out, she received a "fine" of 800 yuan - the bedroom door lock was broken, but because she rented the entire house, she thought it was no big deal, so she didn't mention it to the landlord. as a result, she was asked to pay for repairs when she checked out; the washing machine was leaking when she first moved in, and the landlord demanded compensation on the grounds that the tenant had damaged it; the cleaning fee was charged on the grounds that the kitchen floor and range hood were not cleaned...
"every failure makes me wiser. now i check carefully before renting a house. i will discuss any details with the landlord or agent in advance and reflect them in the contract." ms. li said that she learned from her classmates and friends that many young people have fallen into "pitfalls" when renting a house.
according to an investigation conducted by legal daily, renting a house has become a major pain point in the lives of young people in recent years, especially during graduation season. how to solve the rental needs after finding a job has become a long-standing problem for young people. the difficulty of renting a house, high rent, poor service, and many disputes have made young people living in cities feel more stressed. in addition, in addition to disputes over damage assessment and deductions when checking out, many people are also troubled by personal safety issues during their rental period.
experts interviewed believe that young people, especially freshly graduated college students, have a real need to rent a house, but due to their own lack of social experience and the existence of some "black intermediaries", they often fall into "pitfalls" when renting a house. it is recommended to improve the legal system of the rental market, and relevant departments should optimize the rental market environment and crack down on illegal activities such as "black intermediaries". at the same time, both parties to the lease should sign the contract with caution and have the courage to safeguard their legal rights and interests when encountering problems.
cartoon: li xiaojun
"black intermediary" tempts people to sign contracts
short-term rental traps many people
"i was 'cheated' in the first month after arriving in qingdao. this agency was simply 'getting something for nothing'. they rented their house for a short period of time, and then asked them to find clients to sublet it. i became their free employee just by renting a house." wang meng (pseudonym) was furious when talking about his experience of renting a house through an agency in qingdao, shandong.
in july this year, wang meng, who had just graduated from university, planned to use his job search to find a short-term rental house in qingdao for one month. after seeing the advertisement posted by the agency, wang meng contacted the agency, who said that short-term rentals of one month or several months were fine, but the lease term in the contract had to be agreed to be at least one year, and that he could sublet the house when he no longer wanted to rent it.
"what if the sublease fails?" facing wang meng's doubts, the agent said that this would not happen. they have more than 100 colleagues in the group and can help find someone to rent the house. if they can't find someone, the deposit will definitely be returned. wang meng believed the agent and planned to rent the house from july 9 to august 8, a short-term lease of one month. however, because the lease term was written as one year in the contract, she had to pay a higher deposit. at that time, the agent comforted her: it was just a formality and it would be returned immediately when the rent was due.
"as a result, on july 30, nine days before the agreed lease period, the agent asked me to move out and said that since i did not find a subtenant in advance, they would deduct twice my deposit. they said they would help me find a subtenant, but in the end i had to find one myself. my rent was only 1,300 yuan a month, but not only did i not live there for a full month, they also deducted 2,100 yuan from my deposit," wang meng said angrily.
the agent no longer had the same enthusiasm as before, and would not respond to phone calls or messages. after wang meng complained to the relevant department, the other party suggested that she file a lawsuit. "but who would waste time and energy suing them for two or three thousand yuan? they may be taking advantage of this and wantonly 'scamming' young people who have just graduated and have no experience."
due to her busy work and life, wang meng had to move out of the rental house first, and is currently trying to get back the withheld deposit. she posted her experience on social platforms and formed a rights protection group. in less than a month, more than 200 people joined the group and claimed that they were deceived by the agency. currently, no one wants to get back the deposit, and the agency is still posting rental copywriting on social platforms.
during the investigation, the reporter found that it has become a common practice for some "black agents" to make a lot of promises before signing the contract, trick tenants who originally wanted to rent for a short period of time into signing a long-term lease, and then "earn" the tenants' penalty in the name of breach of contract.
last july, wang li (pseudonym), a college graduate from nanjing, jiangsu, also encountered the short-term rental trap. he originally planned to rent for only two months, but when he signed the contract, he found that the two-month lease period had become a year, and he had to pay a year's management fee. he paid a total of more than 7,000 yuan for rent, management fees, agency fees and deposit.
"the agent said that if i didn't write a long lease, no one would rent a house to me, and the longer the lease, the lower the rent. because i was in a hurry to rent a house and couldn't find a suitable house for a while, i signed the lease contract. the agent verbally promised that the 2,300 yuan deposit and the 2,300 yuan management fee for 10 months would be refunded. in order to prevent the refund, i even recorded a voice message, but i didn't notice that the contract stated that the money would only be refunded if the sublease was successful. as a result, after the house expired, the agent refused to refund the deposit on the grounds that the sublease was not successful, and the remaining service fee was regarded as liquidated damages and was not refunded."
wang li called the police, but the two sides failed to reach an agreement through mediation. the local police suggested that the issue be resolved through litigation. "i don't have that much time and energy to waste on the agency. i just regard this money as a lesson learned when i first entered the society."
low amount, high cost of rights protection
most people choose to swallow their anger
"i encountered a scammer who promoted the rental of houses on the ×× social platform. everyone must keep their eyes open when renting a house!"
in july this year, chen ming (pseudonym) from baoshan district, shanghai, fell in love with a house posted by a real estate agency on a social platform. he repeatedly confirmed its authenticity before going there, but when he arrived at the site, the other party said that the house had been rented out and there were other suitable ones available to show.
"i have encountered this kind of thing more than once. once before, an agent sent me a video of a house. i felt it was good after watching it, but when i saw it in person, it was completely different from the video. even the architectural layout was different. i wasted a lot of my time. later, i saw a lot of warning posts on social platforms, and then i realized that these were all caused by unscrupulous intermediary companies. the person who chats with you and the person who takes you to see the house are actually not the same person." chen ming said.
the reporter’s investigation found that many landlords or agents would use social platforms to illegally divert traffic.
an industry insider revealed that the basic routine of this kind of agency is to post low-priced properties on major social platforms and make various promises, such as free maintenance and regular cleaning. "but in fact, they will set a trap for you when signing the contract. for example, if you want a short-term lease, they will trick you into signing a year; for example, when negotiating, they will say the rent is 900 yuan a month, but when you actually pay, they will ask you to pay a higher price and say that it will be refunded later through a supplementary agreement. finally, when you want to cancel the lease, they will deduct your rent for various reasons. the people who are most likely to be deceived by this kind of agency are students and young people who have just entered the society."
last july, li yao (pseudonym), a recent graduate from zunhua, hebei, rented a house through a beijing agency for one year. when the lease expired this year, li yao chose not to renew the lease, and after completing the handover procedures, the 4,000 yuan deposit he paid was not immediately returned.
"at that time, they said that the company needed to go through an approval process and the deposit would be refunded soon. on the third day, i asked if the deposit could be refunded. the other party said it would take 5 to 7 working days and he could help to urge it. it would definitely be refunded on the 5th working day. but after 5 working days, it was still not refunded. when i asked again when the deposit could be refunded, the other party became anxious and asked, 'are you afraid that the company will not refund you?'"
after nearly a month of wrangling, the agency still found various reasons to delay the deposit. li yao called the 12345 service hotline, and the deposit was returned after the intervention of the local housing management department. li yao told reporters that after he posted this experience online, many netizens said that their deposits were also deliberately withheld when they rented a house through the agency.
the reporter searched topics such as "avoiding pitfalls when renting a house" on social platforms and found that many young people were talking about various problems they encountered when renting a house, including renting a room with formaldehyde, being harassed by the landlord or roommates, encountering "assassins" on water and electricity bills, and unreasonable damage assessment when checking out.
some netizens live in a house rented directly from the landlord. the landlord asked them to keep a key of the house on the grounds that "there is no one to take care of the house if something happens". after that, the landlord opened the door and entered the house without saying hello many times. the netizen proposed to cancel the lease, but the deposit was deducted on the grounds of "early termination of the contract and breach of contract"; some netizens said that a beijing agency cheated the contract deposit slip after the normal expiration of the lease on the grounds of company review, and then refused to return the deposit for various reasons; after renting an apartment from an agency in tianjin, the average daily electricity bill of a netizen was 9.6 yuan, far exceeding the normal electricity consumption standard. the electricity meter was still running fast during the days when he returned to his hometown...
why are there so many pitfalls in renting a house, and why has it become a stubborn problem that is difficult to solve?
in the view of yang qinfa, director of the institute of real estate policy and law at east china university of political science and law, there are many reasons: at the tenant level, young people have a greater demand for renting houses, especially during the graduation season every year. however, young people, especially graduates, mostly lack understanding of the city where they rent and lack the opportunity and time to visit houses in person. the act of hastily visiting houses online and signing contracts greatly increases the possibility of falling into "pitfalls" when renting houses. in the process of house leasing, the contract is an important document to protect the rights and interests of both the lessor and the lessee, but most lessees lack understanding of the terms of the contract, especially young people who are not well-versed in the world. their lack of experience makes it difficult for them to identify the many "tricks" hidden in the contract.
"in addition, when tenants encounter rental problems, the rights protection process is often time-consuming and labor-intensive. the amount involved is often not high, but the energy and time costs of rights protection are relatively high, which leads many tenants to choose to swallow their anger." yang qinfa said.
the entry threshold of the intermediary industry is low, and a large number of small intermediary companies evade the supervision of government departments; the cost of breaking the law is low, and the penalties for violations are usually recorded in the credit file and a fine of no more than 30,000 yuan, which increases the difficulty of cracking down on "black intermediaries". in addition, the quality of intermediary services varies. some intermediaries may conceal information, exaggerate publicity, or even commit fraud, which increases the possibility that tenants will encounter problems during the rental process.
"there is a lack of information platforms and asymmetric rental information." yang qinfa pointed out that currently, most lessors and lessees conduct house rental transactions through intermediaries, acquaintances and other third parties. the lack of an authoritative and transparent housing information platform has led to the risk of information asymmetry between the two parties in the transaction process, increasing transaction costs and risks. on the one hand, it is difficult for the lessor to truly understand the lessee's ability to pay rent; on the other hand, it is difficult for the lessee to guarantee the authenticity and timeliness of the rental information released by intermediaries and other external parties.
at present, the management and regulation of housing rental-related matters mainly rely on the "commodity housing rental management measures" formulated by the ministry of housing and urban-rural development. however, this normative document is a departmental regulation with a low legal level. it is difficult to meet the actual needs of regulating housing rental-related activities and protecting the legitimate rights and interests of the parties, and it is not conducive to the overall management of local work. at the same time, there are certain limitations in supervision and management. according to article 4 of the "commodity housing rental management measures", the housing and urban-rural development department of the state council and the construction (real estate) department of the local people's government at or above the county level are the main supervisory bodies for housing rental activities. however, it is worth noting that housing rental activities often involve multiple functional departments. the blockage of information between departments has hindered the implementation of regulatory responsibilities by departments to a certain extent, affecting the discovery and prevention of potential problems in the rental market.
"the healthy development of the housing rental market requires the joint participation and governance of the government, the market and society, but the current social co-governance mechanism is not yet perfect and lacks effective coordination and cooperation," said yang qinfa.
develop rent control policies
strengthening the supervision of the rental market
the "2023 china urban long-term rental market development blue book" shows that the number of people renting houses in my country has exceeded 260 million. young people in first- and second-tier cities can accept a rental period of nearly 10 years, and the demand for quality rental housing continues to grow.
as the rental market expands, the problems that come with it also begin to emerge.
in july 2023, a survey involving 1,001 respondents released by the media showed that 80.7% of the respondents were troubled by renting a house when they graduated, among which "not understanding the rental market and worrying about falling into a trap" was the most troubling problem for everyone.
on july 31 this year, beijing municipal housing and urban-rural development committee, beijing branch of the people's bank of china and other five departments issued the "interim measures for housing rental deposit trust and rent supervision in beijing", which will include the rent collected by housing rental companies that rent other people's houses for sub-rental under supervision, and the lessee can check the account balance through the housing rental contract filing number and other information. the measures will be implemented on october 1 this year.
yang qinfa suggested that a reasonable rent control policy should be formulated to prevent excessively high rents. the local rental market conditions should be investigated, including rent levels, supply and demand, etc. according to the market research results, a reasonable rent ceiling standard should be formulated to ensure that the needs of low-income groups are met without excessively undermining the enthusiasm of landlords and intermediary companies to rent out houses.
li huiwen, partner of beijing guantao (xi'an) law firm and executive director of the real estate law research association of the shaanxi law society, believes that in order for young people to successfully rent a suitable house, relevant departments should optimize the rental market environment, crack down on irregular behaviors in the rental market, and introduce professional forces to further standardize the rental transaction process, especially in terms of contract signing, rent changes, etc. provide young people with relevant support systems, and actively create an open and reliable rental information platform.
"the government or its designated entities can increase the supply of affordable rental housing with policy support, provide good rental conditions for eligible young people, and strengthen operational capabilities to promote affordable rental housing to play a better social role." said li huiwen.
"we also need to improve the legal system of the rental market by standardizing the signing and performance of rental contracts, strengthening supervision of the rental market, and gradually improving the legal system of the rental market by issuing relevant laws and policies in line with the times in response to rental issues that are of high public concern and frequently controversial. at the same time, we must ensure the safety of rental housing and introduce third-party certification agencies to certify the quality and environmental protection standards (such as formaldehyde testing) of rental housing to ensure that rental housing meets basic safety and health requirements." said li huiwen.
chen yang, deputy director of the housing and urban-rural development business center of beijing yinghe law firm and member of the legal policy working committee of the china property management association, said that both parties to the lease should be more cautious in signing the contract and read the contract terms carefully to ensure that they have a clear understanding of key contents such as rent, lease period, deposit, and maintenance responsibilities; the rights and obligations of both parties should be clearly defined in the lease contract, including but not limited to the use, maintenance, sublease, termination conditions and liability for breach of contract of the house, to ensure that the rights and interests of both parties are reasonably protected; tenants should also visit the house to verify the authenticity of the housing information and the integrity of the electrical equipment on site to ensure the comfort and safety of the rental experience and avoid falling into "pitfalls".
(source: legal daily wechat official account)
