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Flooding / Rent Renewal - dealing with agent / landlord

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  1. #1

    Flooding / Rent Renewal - dealing with agent / landlord

    Our lease is up June 1, and my wife is due to give birth June 30 so it's not a good time to move. We also have a toddler of nearly 2 years. We like our apartment and we had planned to stay, but then we had a real crisis and now we're not sure what to do.
    Last night a valve on our toilet broke off and flooded the apartment while nobody was home. Our helper found it when she got home with our kid. She turned off the water main but there was still an inch of standing water in the apartment.
    After I sent photos to the property agent who represents the landlord, she sent up a plumber to fix the valve, but she flat-out refused to do anything about the standing water. I even went down to her office to talk to her in person after I got home. She refused, to my face, to come look at the damage or to arrange any cleanup.
    The helper and I spent the next several hours mopping the floor and putting furniture up on blocks. Doesn't look like very serious damage to furniture or electronics, but we're livid at the lack of support by our landlord and property agent.
    We want to stay, but we don't want to deal with that agent anymore. And we're worried that if we complain about her directly to the landlord he'll either tell us to take a hike or he'll jack the rent up so far we can't afford to stay. We've never dealt with him directly, so we don't really know what he's like.
    Technically we could move, but we really don't want to, given our kid situation. Plus, like I said, we like the apartment overall, and the neighborhood.
    What to do? Should we suck it up and see what happens? Complain to the city? Write to the landlord and state our position regarding the agent? Should we start talking to lawyers?
    Any and all advice welcome. Thanks!


  2. #2

    Join Date
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    Be grateful the agent responded immediately and fixed the problem. Better the devil you know when it comes to HK landlords / agents. If this is the worst issue you have then you are doing well to have such a fantastic place to live.

    Get insurance you have lots of expensive equipment.


  3. #3

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    Stay where you are. Your wife will give birth soon and there is chance of preterm labor. The last thing you need is the stress of searching for another apartment and moving. Suck it up for now and consider moving after the one year clause.

    twelve98 likes this.

  4. #4

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    I hear you, you must be very angry and it's the last thing you need at the moment. There are not too many options, unfortunately, unless you are prepared to throw a lot of money at it, i.e. move to some serviced apartment while paying movers to pack everything for you. So probably stay until you have the baby, move a few months after that if still unhappy? I hope you took a lot of pictures of all the damage etc., so that if there are more disagreements later you can present your case well.


  5. #5

    Thanks all, for the advice and encouragement. We have a small update:
    I tried one more call directly to the landlord's office just now, and got an English-speaking colleague who told me to reach him for apartment issues in the future.
    Not sure what will happen with renewing the lease, but this feels more hopeful than it did this morning, if only because we don't have to work with that agent anymore.
    Cheers

    shri likes this.

  6. #6

    Join Date
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    your thinking of agents responsibilities is way too much, shit, once they get their commission you're lucky they even help you do anything LOL

    Glad you got another contact who will help you deal with the landlord. oh by the way when you do renew the lease YOU DONT HAVE TO USE AN AGENT.

    Both parties fill up a standard contract template and sign and send it off for govt stamp. easy peasy and save 1/2 months commision from both sides

    juanalias, twelve98 and JAherbert like this.

  7. #7

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    Absolutely agree - Hong Kong agents = rent out apartments = commission = no more responsibility.

    twelve98 and JAherbert like this.

  8. #8

    Join Date
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    On one side, the agent merely facilitates the introduction of you to the landlord, and in return for this contact, and using a templated contract, you paid a commission. Many agents will try to not reveal the LL contact so that you have to use them again on renewal. I would never rent under these circumstances. Essentially the ball goes into the agents court.

    So yes the agent is not responsible to do anything and it's not like you are paying a monthly retainer fee to have the agent on your side either.

    On the other hand, if the agent is keeping the LL contact secret and being sketchy, make a complaint to EAA against both the agent and the agency. I'm sure things will be properly sorted after this. Complaint

    It sounds like you'll have a problem to get your security deposit back, so when it's time to move, I'd withhold the last 2 months rent and tell them to use the security deposit.

    Moving right now will be a lot more stress and costs, just keep it as is and let it go.


  9. #9

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    Original Post Deleted
    Not uncommon that the agent gets it signed or the agent has an authorisation letter to be a representative of the landlord. This is also acceptable in which the agent would never disclose the landlords contact details. The owners name of the flat is easily obtainable with a land search but means nothing as it is often difficult to track down Chinese landlords as a lot of common names do exist and high privacy or lack of information.

    I have a couple friends that did this -- I advise against it. Typically for landlord who is an absent landlord and the agent gets a reoccurring commission on the property.

  10. #10

    agents here aren't incentivised to look after tenants once they're moved in. They get a one off finders fee rather than an on-going monthly income

    I've always dealt directly with the landlord. it's in his/her best interest to have you stay as finding a new tenant is costly and time consuming

    JAherbert likes this.

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