I’ve been looking for a new place to live recently, and finally found one in Panchiao. A friend and I were just going into buildings and asking the security guards whether or not there were currently vacancies. We came to one, and the security guard said that there was a vacancy. We asked him if he could get in touch with the landlord for us, and he said to go next store and ask for the key. It turns out that “next store” was one of those “rental agencies” (仲介公司) that “helps” you to find places to live. However, the woman inside said that she needed NT$1,800 before she would contact the landlord. These agencies collect fees to look for houses for you. I already found the house on my own, I just needed to get the landlord’s number, but she refused and got a very nasty attitude with me. I was just wondering if it’s legal for her to accept a fee in this case. Perhaps someone else has run into a similar situation.
I had another bad experience with one of these places. I gave them the NT$2,000 “service fee” to look for a place, and they didn’t do anything. After two weeks of no contact from them, we went in and asked for the “service fee” back since they didn’t give us any service (no contract was signed, by the way, just a receipt for the “service fee”). They refused. We came back with the police and the police told them that they should give back the money, otherwise they would face a lot of hassle in court and they would lose. They still refused. Now I’m going to the Consumer Protection Agency to report them. These places are all really shady. I urge everyone to stay away from them.
Never paid a service fee when dealing with agents here. They pay for time and transport and if I don’t rent via them they get nothing. Otherwise, upon signing of contract, they get the usual 50% of a month’s rent (from both, landlord and tenant).
You could also try www.mtr.com.tw if you have an expat budget, drop by at their office and look at some pictures and room layouts to narrow down your choice before wasting time on visiting places that you are not interested in.
I’ve already found my apartment … signed the lease and have already started moving in. Problem is, I found it by myself. But in order to get in touch with the landlady I had to get the phone number from a rental agency, otherwise there was no way to get in touch with her. So basically, I had to pay $2,000 for a phone number. The “service fee” is for helping me to find an apartment … neither of the two agencies I went to did that at all.
Some of the “agents” just supply a list for NT$1500 or NT$2000 or so…I’ve heard of this but never used them.
Sounds like you’re taking over my place as the Fearless Low-Level Legal Agitator of Taiwan, littlebuddha! Good on you. Don’t let 'em get away with this crap, I say.
You could have tried going to the tax office to find out who is the owner of the building…the records on ownership should be available somewhere. Richard recommended this approach to me at one point during the Glossika debacle several years back, but I don’t remember the exact details.
