Check the inspection seals…If any.
The issue being Taiwan is while it might not be legal to evict you , i wouldn’t put it past them to wait until you were out and break in, throw your shit in the hallway and change the lock.
Then you call the cops for the illegal eviction and not wanting to get involved they tell you it’s a civil matter and you can sue them but in the meantime your stuck in a love motel for a few weeks.
Sounds hard to believe but being Taiwan your legal rights are far from guaranteed
I doubt this is the case, I would be surprised if your described scenario didn’t constitute trespassing at a very minimum, which is a criminal offence.
If the cops give you that shit you ask to get some other cops over and file a report on the first ones for incompetence.
Could happen, depending on guanxi. remember the guy who came home to find his abode had been demolished? And that was a local.
I woudl actually like to know if there is some actual legal recourse. First of all, I know the OP cannot speak/read Chinese nor lives in Taipei, otherwise I’d direct him to the Consumer Protection Agency or Tsui Mama. So it is a bit more complicated.
Indeed, the issue now is that the OP must leave his rented apartment and look for another one. Now, there will be losses anyway, but it would be nice not to lose the deposit to this crooked landlord.
BTW, OP cannot publicize or in any way warn future tenants, as doing so is illegal and will get him sued/arrested/deported.
Options?
I missed the part that OP lives out of taipei. I still think contacting with Tsai Mama might be some help. They may know OP’s least legal rights in this situation in Taiwan, and might help to talk to the landlord, or have some ideas how to talk.
OP, you need to be a bit more careful to make any contracts.
TBH, we all are royally #@$%^&* by landlords at least once. It is part of the learning process.
I still want to know how old is the fridge/ACs/appliances.
Not necessarily (can he prove what he claims? does it qualify as “fair comment”?), but proceed with caution.