Eviction laws

Hello,

I would like to know about laws in Taiwan regarding eviction. I moved into a shared apartment last month, and there is a horrible roommate. (Currently, we are the only tenants, but there is one empty room). A few weeks after I moved in, his girlfriend moved into the apartment without asking me or the landlord. My contract states that if a tenant brings back a guest for 2 or more consecutive nights, and does not notify the landlord and the other tenants, and there is a complaint about the guest, the contract will be terminated immediately (with no deposit given). The girlfriend is very noisy, messy, and smelly, so I complained.

First, the landlord agreed to evict him, but said that according to Taiwan law, he needs to give him one month to find a new room. But after one month, he wouldn’t do it. After I told the landlord that the roommate’s behavior has not improved (I feel like this is totally pointless though because he violated the contract weeks ago, I shouldn’t have to provide more evidence) he agreed to evict him by April 19 (about 9 days later). Now, after talking to my landlord today, he still won’t evict him. He says that according to Taiwan law, he cannot evict someone unless they are able to find a new place to live. So, he kept telling me that his hands were tied, and I need to understand Taiwan law better.

I know Taiwan law is not the best, but is this really true? If so, tenants can just continuously say they can’t find any new room, and stay there until the end of their contract. It just doesn’t seem right, because he initially told me a tenant can be evicted if given 1 month to look for a new room, and then changed his story.

Even if my roommate cannot be evicted according to the law, since he hasn’t done anything illegal or damaged any property, what legal rights do I have, since my landlord broke his own contract? I have evidence that the girlfriend moved in, and screenshots of texts with the landlord saying he knows she moved in.

I will be moving out (the landlord has agreed to give me my deposit back) but I’m just really curious about the laws regarding eviction. And it might take me a while to find another room, so if there’s still a possibility he can get evicted, that would be best.

ETA: The landlord is a foreigner, but he has a Taiwanese manager who collects rent, shows people rooms, etc. The name on my contract is the manager, not the landlord.

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Iiuc, the landlord can bring it to a court, and after getting the court judgement, can claim the court to enforce its decision.

Land Act
Article 100
The lessor shall not take back his house unless one of the following conditions obtains:
(1) The lessor takes the house for his own residence or for reconstruction.
(2) The lessee subleases the house in violation of Paragraph one, Article 443 of the Civil Code .
(3) The cumulative amount of house rental which the lessee has failed to pay exceeds the equivalent of two months’ rental, after the entire cash deposit has been used to counterbalance the amount in arrears.
(4) The lessee puts the house to illegal use in violation of Acts or ordinances.
(5) The lessee violates the terms of the lease contract.
(6) The lessee causes damage to the house or the fixtures and fails to pay due compensation.

Crappy situation, sorry to hear it. But it doesn’t sound worth it to force this issue further if you’ve not had success to this point, legal or otherwise. Just move out. I know that result sucks, but you indicated you’d be doing that anyway. I wouldn’t imagine, if the landlord hasn’t taken action to this point, that they’d be willing to bring the lousy roommate you want out to court.

So according to part (5) my roommate should be evicted. But would it really have to go to court? Why can’t the landlord just tell him he has to leave, according to the law, and if my roommate still refuse, just threaten to go to court?

Yeah, you’re right, it’s not worth it. Even though it really kills me that he’s going to get away with everything. I will still see a lawyer on Monday just to get clarification about the laws and my contract. I just don’t understand why my landlord and roommate would need to go to court. Why couldn’t the landlord say forcefully that he needs to go, and if he refused, just threaten to go to court?

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yes, you landlord can do so, but if your roommate refuse it, should go to court. Your roommate would lose nothing by refusing the eviction until it is enforced by authority.

Ugh that makes sense. And the part that I didn’t mention is that my roommate’s contract is up June 10, so by the time something would be settled in court, he may already be gone anyways

Count your blessings that the landlord has agreed to let you move out early and give you your deposit back. Hopefully you have this in writing so it’s indisputable.

It sounds like your landlord simply doesn’t want any hassles, and letting you leave is the lesser of two hassles than having to go through an eviction when your roommate is apparently still paying the rent.

i’m curious about this part…

It may also be that evictions are not as legally enforceable. Also with this coronavirus thing going on they don’t want someone getting evicted and therefore become a risk.

She has very strong body odor. So strong, that if my roommate’s door is open, even if she’s not there, I will smell it from my room. So I usually have my bedroom door closed.

This girl can’t be a local? Its rare to meet a local girl that stanks up the place…although i have actually met one now i think about it

She’s a foreigner. She comes from a certain country where the people have a distinct odor. I know many people from this country, almost all of them smell fine. Some might have a noticeable odor, but it’s faint… Not really a bad smell at all. But this girl smells like she sleeps in a restaurant and never takes a shower. It’s so strong

Right to due process. Everyone should be afforded the right to due process.

Must be Texas.

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I used to know a Canadian girl that has really strong body odor. But in runs in her family because her mom and dad has it too. I like her as a person though but her BO was strong.

I am sure she’s aware of it and probably any attempt to cover or remove it is futile. I have seen people with very strong BO and it does not seem like there’s a whole lot they can do about it.

It’s likely to the landlord you’re just being a problem and trying to get a roommate evicted on a technicality. Fact is if he is paying rent there isn’t a whole lot the landlord can do about it (legally). If he tries to do anything (like change a lock) the landlord will likely get into legal trouble.

So yea pretty much all you can do is move out, or deal with it. A more tact approach is ask the landlord if they have another property you can move to. This saves them face by the way.

I guess you may as well bring over a guest.

You’re right, probably not much you can do about her smell. But if she was a nice, considerate girl with a smell, that would be a different story. This girl has probably set feminism back at least 50 years. A couple weeks ago she had a big fight with my roommate (which a neighbor complained about). She was buzzing the doorbell for 5 minutes straight, and then banging on the door. My roommate stole some important stuff of hers. The fight lasted at least an hour. She threatened to call the landlord and the cops. Eventually she got her stuff back… but just a few hours later, she was back at the apartment drinking with my roommate. Like nothing had happened.

It’s not just a technicality though. Besides this fight, my roommate smoked in the living room, several times after I told him not to. He lets the trash get so full, it blows across the balcony. He hasn’t washed the pots and pans in almost a month. He ate my food without asking, and used a lot of my soap, laundry detergent, and tissues. So there are other parts of the contract which he broke too. Also, according to the manager, he initially refused to pay two months deposit, thinking somehow he was above the law and only needed to pay one month, because he was a student.

yea but unfortunately the landlord just doesn’t care… to him it’s all a technicality, and the only thing that will get the landlord to evict him is if he doesn’t pay rent for several months.

As far as moving forward, do you have any suggestions? I am supposed to talk to my roommate tonight to set rules, but he hasn’t come home yet. I feel like rules have no weight now, since I know eviction is basically off the table. Is it possible to have a meeting with us two and the landlord and suggest that if he breaks the rules, he will lose some of his deposit? I just don’t see what impetus he will have to follow rules if he knows he can basically get away with murder.

I know I said I was moving out, but I might decide to stay instead, since my roommate’s contract ends June 10 (the landlord won’t renew it, right?). By the time I find a suitable place, he might be gone. So I think I should be able to just suck it up for a little bit.