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Rentals: Post-dated cheques (checks), and no landlord liability...wierd?

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  1. #1

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    Rentals: Post-dated cheques (checks), and no landlord liability...wierd?

    I've been trying to find an apartment to rent in a particular complex for a few months now and I've finally found one that seems to have accepted my offer (yet to finalise contract). Up until now, I've been messed around, lied to, strung along, etc etc, and all I want to do is get it over and done with.

    Although this flat I found is great in every other way, it is apparently owned by a business and the accountants require 12 post-dated cheques (checks) for the first 12 months rent. This struck me as odd and makes me uncomfortable, but I figure if anything goes horribly wrong I can cancel the cheque(s) I need to with the bank. Do you guys think this is something to be worried about/that cancelling a cheque will be fine?

    What's really got me in a dilemma however is a phone call i received today. Apparently the landlord does want to clean the place (something I said I was fine to do), BUT any maintenance or work which needs doing to the flat will be totally my responsibility. So, if the A/C breaks, I have to organise and pay for it to get fixed. I'm sure you're probably thinking this is ridiculous and I'd be a fool to consider it. Well, I agree with you there. I just want to know if anyone has heard of anything like this in HK... or anywhere in fact! Quite how the landlord decided they needed to ask for this arrangement I've no idea.

    I would happily clean the place up myself (it currently needs a clean), and happily arrange for for maintenance/plumbers/etc, but I don't see how the landlord can expect the tenant to be the one paying to upkeep their property.


  2. #2

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    Quote Originally Posted by kryzlowski:
    Although this flat I found is great in every other way, it is apparently owned by a business and the accountants require 12 post-dated cheques (checks) for the first 12 months rent. This struck me as odd and makes me uncomfortable, but I figure if anything goes horribly wrong I can cancel the cheque(s) I need to with the bank. Do you guys think this is something to be worried about/that cancelling a cheque will be fine?
    I have heard of that arrangement (using post-date cheques for lease payments) before in Asia. If you want to be sure that the receiver does not cash the cheques close your account.

  3. #3

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    Sounds like a crap deal, you want to rent the place not marry it. I'd never throw post dated cheques up front. Hell nowadays I don't even have a chequebook anyway. And as for full responsibility for the place? No way, you have no idea on the real condition of anything in the place. It could be the beginning of your bankruptcy.
    Posted via Mobile Device

    Last edited by jaykay; 14-03-2010 at 08:06 AM.

  4. #4

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    My advice to the OP, is to turn his back and walk away...... or I'd call the agents bluff and utter, that you have found another ( lie ) flat in the building, which offers a normal tenancy agreement, and an even lower rent. Totally brain damage the agent.


    If you accept this deal, not only are you bending over yourself, but, you are also bending over the entire expat ( rental ) community, setting a lucrative precedent, that all agents here will exploit/expect, unless you learn to say no, to very bad deals.

    Great for land lords, if you do accept their existing rental agreement.

    Last edited by Skyhook; 14-03-2010 at 10:13 AM.
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  5. #5

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    Walk.
    Posted via Mobile Device


  6. #6

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    Definitely walk away.

    Being responsible for maintenance is unacceptable.

    If the landlord is stuffing you around now, imagine the trouble that will happen when you go to move out - you are just setting yourself up for disappointment, frustration and being screwed. You are sure to lose out in the end.

    It is just too much trouble.
    Trust me - a landlord like that is not worth the hassle.

    I agree with Skyhooks comments regarding setting a precident. It is not something that I would ever accept - as accepting it would be condoning this type of landlord behavour. Lets face it, Hong Kong landlords already think it is acceptable to raise the rent by 50% in a year, something which I find totally unacceptable.


  7. #7

    I would walk away. If the landlord is already so problematic at the outset, things can only get worse.


  8. #8

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    Thanks for all your comments.

    Honestly... I would never have put pen to paper agreeing to the landlord's demands. What I think I wanted is to gauge how completely unacceptable it is, and if this ever happens in HK, so I know how to play the situation. As it is (completely unheard of and unacceptable), I feel like I should be able to pursue the property not accepting the demand of the landlord's.

    If they backed down and would accept responsibility for the cost of repairs, then I think I would be ok with the post-dated cheque side of things. That is of course, provided that I can cancel the cheque/clear out the account to stop payment/or as Raccon said, simply close the account to stop the cheque payment. Back in the UK, cancelling cheques is not a problem (or any of the above methods), and I presume the situation is the same here?


  9. #9

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    It's not all that unusual to have completely "bare" rentals where the tenant even has to provide the aircons (or can sometimes inherit some from the previous tenant); government-owned properties are normally let on this basis, for example, where they are let "as-is" and windows, doors etc are the responsibility of the tenant.

    Otherwise, the basic rule is that the fabric of the property plus everything on the inventory is the landlord's responsibility to keep in working order. Anything not on it is yours (but in that case you can also take it with you when you leave if you wish).

    Last edited by PDLM; 14-03-2010 at 05:12 PM.

  10. #10

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    My prospective landlord tried exactly the same deal with me. I told him it was completely unacceptable and luckily he backed down.


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