Apartment leasing contract

[Jamie_Koh]

Hi,would anyone know if it is normal/typical in HK to include the "break lease" clause in the leasing contract? i.e. 1 yr fixed and 2nd yr optional but either party may break the lease with 2 months notice. Another questions is on the guarantee letter from company to assure the landlord to pick up the bill should the tenant not paying the rent... this request is on top of the 2 mths deposit. Appreciate any reply to these questions.

[orrock]

usually fixed is fixed and your minimum is 14 months (12 months plus 2 months deposit) but you can ask for a break clause to be added in the contract maybe they accept it

[Jamie_Koh]

Thanks for the reply orrock! The break clause was initiated by the landlord. Am not very comfortable with it unless it is commonly being practice here in HK. What abt the company letter thingy?? Thought the 2 months deposit will have serve the purpose right???

[freeier]

I think it used to be like this, you get a tenancy contract for 2 years, then some tenant wanted the flexibility so they added in a tenant side option allowing them to break the tenancy after 1 year by giving 2 mths notice. Then the legistration decided to make this option mutual, i.e. both sides can exercise the option, to make it fair to the landlord.

Its all subject to negotiation. If you are sure you will stay for 2 years, then you can insist you do not want the option, and depending on your bargaining power, you probably can get it. But that would also mean you cannot get out of the tenancy contract even if you decide to leave hk.

On the other hand, even with the break option and the landlord decides to exercise it, if you chooses to play punk and stay put (and continue to pay the rent), the landlord need to go through a long process (6-8mths) to actually evict you.

So in certain sense the tenant has slight upper hand in such contract.

Hence, landlord are also selective. I just signed my tenancy agreement with a landlord that is willing to lower the rental for me because I am a 'low risk foreigner' (which in their terms probably mean someone from japan, korea, maybe singapore, malaysia). He was asking for 2k hkd more if the tenant is a local.

So far I have not heard anyone asking for a company letter to underwrite your rental. It actually stems from the landlord's preference of renting it to a corporate client. I think this part you can probably negotiate yourself out of it. Unless you are asking for a demandingly low rent, then it stands that the landlord wld want the assurance in such cases..

[Jamie_Koh]

Freeier - Thanks for the pointer. I will know what to do now. We are from SGP and just talking to our first landlord through a chinese agent. The agent is not a great help in anyway but we will see how it goes then.