I am in an apartment with a year lease that is bound to end at the end of this year. We need to leave Taiwan before then, and I just gave the landlord 30 days notice the other day, on the day I paid rent through 9/15. We had given her 1st and last months rent (2 months rent) as a deposit. It was pretty much a standard lease, and as I understand it we are entitled to full refund if we give a 30 day notice. The first thing out of her mouth was that there will be no refund. Advice?
My leases here have always stated that if the contract is broken early by the tenant, the tenant will forfeit one month of the deposit but will get the second month refunded. (Conversely, if the owner breaks the lease then the tenant is credited one month’s worth of rent). Every time except once I’ve been able to get that one month penalty waived because I gave 30 days notice, but that is up to the landlord.
So if she means no refund at all then that definitely seems suspect. I would ask her to show you in the lease exactly where it states you will not get any of your deposit back.
And even if that is in the lease it’s probably illegal. I’ve heard that Tsuei Mama (https://www.tmm.org.tw/) is a good place to fight for renter’s rights.
(English: 租屋、搬家-崔媽媽提供安心居住服務)
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She just found out so maybe that’s a knee jerk reaction. She’s been fairly helpful and pleasant - accomodating I think - from the beginning and so far.
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The “old” law was no return for early move out but this was changed a number of years ago. If you give notice equal to your rent payment interval, e.g. 30 days if you pay monthly, then you are entitled to full return of deposit less legitimate expenses, if outstanding. Legitimate expenses are water/electricity/management fees etc as a certainty, damage of course and maybe cleaning if excessively dirty beyond “normally” expected. The apartment would generally need to be returned to the condition it was in when first rented and all itemized appliances, furniture be present. If you repainted, put nails in walls etc. the landlord can insist on return to previous state. Stress cracks from earthquakes are not your problem.
Highly advise contacting the various utility companies and getting a bill made up to your move out date, they are very familiar with the process, show this to your landlord and you can match against the meter together thereby removing the “wait till the bills arrive” delaying tactic. Get everything sorted out on move out day or before, don’t handover keys until everything is settled and have the landlord sign your copy of the contract as completed with no outstanding bills.
Highly recommend Tsuei Mama if you need advice/backup, best to visit them in person. Do not listen to any letting agent who pretends to know the law, many don’t, many lie and they are certainly on the landlords side and not yours.
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Ok; this is exactly the way I understood it to work. Are the monies, our deposit, (less utilities) due in full at the time we return the keys?
This lady does not strike me as a savvy business type, meaning it is possible that’s just the way she learned and so far no one has called her on it, so she just doesn’t know any better. I don’t know how many tenants she’s had. I am loathe to think she is operating knowing full well that we are entitled to a refund of our full deposit, because that would make her a thief. In that case, I’m obligated to rectify that. I’d feel particularly motivated to take this situation as a teachable moment.
If she has not changed her tune and acknowledged the new way by tomorrow morning, I’ll be visiting Tsuei Mama tomorrow afternoon.
Thank you for all that! Bills we’ll be getting before final inspection.
Yes!
Taiwanese landlords for the most part are amateur landlords who happen to have empty property rather than professional landlords whose business is renting.
If your communication with her is good I suggest softly approaching the situation and suggesting how it should go on handover day to see what her stance really is. Make sure you know what is coming before that last day so you can prepare in advance. With you, presumably, having a fixed flight time don’t let her turn that to her advantage and run you out of time.
General rule of thumb for less than one year living on a year contract, one month returned, one month gone astray.
Although, if anything written and signed in contract will overrule the above.
After a year, you could expect a full refund from some landlord.
There is legislation covering rental rules, not some arbitrary “rule of thumb”.
Yes, win-win is the way; that’s sound advice. Thank you !
Would you be able to direct me to the new law? I am looking through this:
https://law.moj.gov.tw/ENG/LawClass/LawAll.aspx?pcode=D0060125
And I only see no penalty for early termination if living conditions become too difficult or other misc reasons (article 11).
The landlord I am talking to now is telling me I will need to pay one month’s deposit if I break the lease, even with 30 day’s notice. Actually the language in the contract is even more vague and doesn’t refer to the deposit at all, merely states I’ll need to pay X month’s rental fees to compensate the landlord.
Below direct copy paste from 財團法人崔媽媽基金會官網 (tmm.org.tw) email circular. Run it through Google translate as necessary.
租期未到，房客可提前退租嗎？
圖.文／崔媽媽基金會
「我可以跟房東提前退租嗎？」是在崔媽媽基金會法律諮詢中，最常聽見的問題之一。
因為房客在租屋過程中，面臨的所有問題與糾紛，若沒有獲得妥善解決，往往最後的選擇都是提前將租約終止。
而伴隨著「提前終止租約」的提出，最常被討論的，就是「押金如何返還？」、「預付租金如何處理？」及「違約金支付」等糾紛。
因此如何合法「提前終止租約」不吃虧非常重要，讓崔媽媽用租屋法律白話文來告訴你！
我們將房客「提前終止租約」提前終止流程彙整成圖，
請依照您的情形回答有或沒有，就能快速找出自己的提前退租途徑！
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終止租約有兩種，
「法定」終止還是「意定」終止?
►「法定終止」
所謂**「法定」，就是在法律上有明確規定**，可以依法提前終止租約。
依照《租賃住宅市場發展及管理條例》第11條、《住宅租賃定型化契約應記載及不得記載事項》第18點規定
房客在遇到特定情況時，可以依照程序（退租前三十日-檢附相關事證-以書面通知房東）提前終止租約，房東不得要求賠償：
1.租賃住宅未合於所約定居住使用，並有修繕之必要，經承租人定相當期限催告，仍不於期限內修繕。
當承租處需要修繕時，房客已通知房東（發現損壞一定要通知房東喔！這在法律上稱作善良管理人義務），但房東卻一直不肯處理，或一直都修不好，例如漏水。
2.租賃住宅因不可歸責承租人之事由致一部滅失，且其存餘部分不能達租賃之目的。
3.租賃住宅有危及承租人或其同居人之安全或健康之瑕疵；承租人於簽約時已明知該瑕疵或拋棄終止租約權利者，亦同。
（可以不用提前三十日告知房東，但仍須檢附事證）
4.承租人因疾病、意外產生有長期療養之需要。
5.因第三人就租賃住宅主張其權利，致承租人不能為約定之居住使用。
6.承租人死亡，其繼承人得主張終止租約，其通知期限及方式，準用前項規定。
**►「**意 定終止」
所謂**「意定」**，則是回到契約中，依照租約上關於「提前終止租約」的規定處理。
倘若退租的原因不符合「法定終止」的事項，那就是要確認在租約上的「意定終止」規定了！
首先需要做的，就是拿出租約，尋找上面關於「提前終止租約 」的相關規定：
1.租約中寫著「得」（可以）提前終止租約：
a.依照規定提前的期限告知房東，房東不得要求違約金。
b.未 依照規定提前的期限告知房東，房東得要求一個月租金作為違約金。2.租約中寫著「不得」（不可以）提前終止租約：
a.房客必須與房東協商雙方可接受的退租方案。
b.房東有權利不接受房客提前終止租約，並可要求房客居住至期滿。
提醒各位租屋族，若遇到相關爭議，
可以向崔媽媽提出法律諮詢，來確定自己的下一步，
不要讓租賃關係的結束，成為訴訟程序的開始。
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That chart is super helpful
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Thanks for linking this! It seems like the relevant clause is in the second box.
I wanted to contact TMM with some other questions re rental process - seems like the best way is to directly visit their office in person? I tried registering online before but there was quite a bit of a process
I’ve found visiting in person or else calling them on the phone to be the best methods to contact them, I’ve never had any luck with email or contact requests on the website. Suggest visit in person and best leave a small donation if they help you out.