So my landlord sold the storefront that i was renting and have asked me to move out by September (my lease is until next May). They keep telling me they already sold it and there’s nothing they can do, that I have to move out and have no choice but i know there’s a law in Taiwan that states that even if a property is sold the lease agreement transfers to the new owner. So they can’t kick me out/force me to move.
However, my landlords family owns a pretty big development company and i know they have a lot of connections. I’m more worries about any loopholes they might try and work through, they keep trying to threaten me with lawyers and the police and its kinda pissing me off. I asked for compensation for a portion of my income since I’m running a business out of this place and making me move on such short notice would cause me to not be able to operate/generate income (is that not reasonable here?) but they said that’s not their problem.
In our contract it states that I would have to pay 2 months rent if I cancelled the lease agreement, but it doesn’t say anything about if the landlord cancels it.
I feel like they’re trying to force me to sign a new agreement that states I’ll move out before I can really get an understanding of my options. If you know of any legalities please help!
Any idea who the new owners are? Technically, it’ll be their problem, not the original owner’s. So not sure why they’re even making a fuss about it … unless they’re lying about the sale, of course.
Not sure why commercial-property landlords think they have to behave like utter cnuts. You’d think word would get around, wouldn’t you? Of course, if you do end up holding the shitty end of the stick, you could at least make sure word does get around …
There’s a figure of something like a community manager (well, not that one) that helps to deal with neighbourhood issues. You can try to talk to them or perhaps go to some government office…
I think the original owners are worried that if I don’t agree to move their sale will fall through (they’ve been trying to sell it for a while even though they never mentioned it when i rented the place). So I have the upper hand, but I’m just worried about nasty tricks or connections they might try to use to make my life miserable.
Have you asked about the possibility of a mediated meeting with the new (potential) owners? Presumably they’re buying to let anyway, so a guaranteed tenant is actually a good thing.
Sadly, I’ve noticed that financial logic doesn’t seem to be high on the skills list of the average Taiwanese rich person. I’m amazed most of them manage to stay rich.
Personally I suspect there is no sale at all, and they’re just full of shit, but I’d say your best bet for now is to play along with the charade.
Good! There you have the answer.
Ask them to use their connections to provide you with a substitute of equal value in the same area for the same price, plus compensation for moving.
How do you know about their influential connections?
If they told you, it’s nothing more than big talk.
The new owners are buying to open a restaurant so they’re very adamant about getting the keys to start their renovations. They keep saying the house is already sold so I’m not really sure what’s going on there!
The city I live in everyone kinda knows of each other.
I’ve tried presenting my terms to them but they refuse to compensate me for anything saying that they gave me time and it’s not their problem.
You need to read your rental contract CAREFULLY. If it’s a standard contract, then there should be something about early termination… If there isn’t, then you need to saw a lawyer to find out what the law is, try the court lawyers… there’s usually a free service at the courts. HOWEVER, even if you know that you can win and can win some money, consider the impact on your business of your legal issues, how it will affect your revenue, and decide then whether it is worth the cost to you. Ultimately, you may feel rightly aggrieved, but how far would you be willing to go to protect a contract that expires in 10 months anyway?
I think his point is not the inconvenience, but loss of revenue. Being kicked out of business premises is not as (relatively) trivial as being kicked out of your house. Besides, the whole point of a contract is that it’s an agreement between two people to do certain things for a certain period of time. It seems to me the landlord fundamentally misunderstands this basic concept.
Realistically, I don’t see what they can do except blow hot air as long as your contract is watertight. You might want to invest in some good security cameras, just on the offchance they decide to do something illegal. It’s not unheard-of for things to mysteriously catch fire, for example.
The new guys - if they even exist - are fuckwits for buying a property with a tenant in it (and without bothering to talk to the tenant). If you have any way to contact them, I’d say your best bet is to calmly inform them that the contract has 10 months to run, and if they have any issues with that then you’re open to negotiation. There doesn’t seem much point in talking to the seller (your existing landlord).
So apparently the house is sold already but they are saying they are worried the sale might fall through if you’re not out. That’s a bit of an alarm bell right there. If it’s actually sold already, there’s no way the sale can fall through. How can something that’s already finalised fall through?
As for the contract, most landlords’ mentality and I suspect this is even more true in Taiwan, is that the contract is mostly for the benefit of the landlord so they have themselves covered if the tenant does anything wrong. In actuality the contract should benefit both parties. If it doesn’t then I wouldn’t’ve signed it in the first place.
It’s probably really not worth all the hassle, but my stubborn ass is just irritated that these people believe they can walk all over you because they have money and resources.
I’m meeting with them tomorrow to see if we can reach an agreement. If I had the time I would be all for a stand off with them and their lawyers but I have better things to do. Thank you for your input!
“If one party wants to terminate the tenancy agreement earlier, it cannot, for example, inform today and move out the next day; they are required to give notice of at least one month,” Chen said.