Home Quarantine: can my landlord force me into a hotel?

I’ll be going to the US for a short family visit and will need to undergo 14-day quarantine when I return to Taiwan. Thought I was doing the right thing by letting my landlord know what the deal was, but now he’s saying he cannot allow me to quarantine in my apartment (that I’ve been renting for a year, the lease still has 8+ months on it) and that he “insists” I stay at a quarantine hotel, because he doesn’t want to send the other tenants into a panic. Can he do this? I work from home (teaching online) and was counting on being able to work in my apartment during those two weeks. Am I SOL, or is he overreaching here? I can’t find anything about it other than the short-term rental ban, which doesn’t apply here. Any links to CDC or other official resources would be super helpful.

He is overreaching as far as I know. You are allowed to return to your own house. If he wants to avoid panic, he can pay your stay then.

However, it’s also against your right to privacy to publish who is in quarantine. Nobody has to know.

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It’s called “home quarantine” for a reason. You’re allowed to stay in your own home.

This guy is your landlord, not your roommate. If he’s that concerned, have him contact the CDC. Otherwise, if you want to be aggressive about this, you could tell him that if he does anything to try to prevent you from staying in the apartment you’re paying to rent, it would constitute a breach of your lease and that you’ll be taking legal action accordingly.

In the future, remember that you don’t have to tell your landlord this stuff. They have no right to know your comings and goings as long as you’re paying your rent and otherwise adhering to the terms of the lease.

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I believe it also matters if you have the whole apartment to yourself, or if it is a shared apartment.

If you have the whole apartment then you should be able to do whatever you want. Shared though I believe would be complicated.

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Good point. If the OP is renting a room in an apartment, not an apartment, that would be different. You need your own room and bathroom if you’re sharing an apartment with others.

Oops, I realize my post is worded strangely. I live alone in a 1-bedroom 1-bathroom apartment, no roommates, no shared spaces. By “other tenants” he means the other people in the building—we only share an elevator, which I wouldn’t be using during quarantine.

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Then, yes, he is overreacting.

I had a somewhat similar experience recently. My friend recently signed a one-year lease for a flat on my behalf since I’m not in Taiwan yet. Out of fairness, I told him to disclose during viewing that I would come from overseas and quarantine in the flat during the first two weeks. Nine out of ten panicked in the Taiwanese way (you guys know what I mean :rofl:), arms crossed in front of the face and 不行!!! Luckily the tenth one was nice and reasonable.

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That’s not at all similar. The OP already has an apartment lease in effect and has been living there.

In your case, did you establish a power of attorney with your friend?

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I guess my question is, can he really do anything about it? Will anybody check with the owner of the property when I arrive, or can he legally stop me from coming home to quarantine? Seems kind of an insane possibility, but Taiwan has a way of surprising me :joy:

I’d probably not say no but rent to somebody else.
You arent a good risk reward.

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Yep. Not the first time that we sign for each other with POA.

I was told that CDC will inform both local government and local police in charge of the area where your home is (like Daan District in Taipei), who will then inform the owner of the house so your landlord. But I don’t know more. All the best, man :muscle:

I would have preferred that :rofl:

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The landlord is a very strange species. Although you are in the right, he can very easily make your life stressful. I would play it careful if you like living there. Just go home and dont tell him. If he comes by, sneeze on him. People in taiwan tend to be secretive about many things, for this kind of reason. They also gossip about said reasons in public while eating, but otherwise quite sly :wink: i would follow their lead on the former part.

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