THE owner of a factory building in Bao an District had to pay 100,000 yuan (US$14,700) for breaching a lease, Chinese-language newspapers reported Saturday.
The owner, identified only as Liao, agreed to pay the money to lessee, identified as Chen, after Chen filed a complaint against Liao at a local property lease management office, saying Liao had leased the building to a third party without first reaching an agreement with him, the Shenzhen Economic Daily reported.
Liao signed a contract with Chen on Oct. 1 to lease the 1,400-square-meter building in the Shilong community to Chen for six years, with monthly rent of 22,100 yuan. Both parties also agreed to date the lease from Dec. 5 because Chen needed 35 days to do the interior decoration.
On Nov. 1, however, Liao signed a contract with a third party to lease the property, without Chen knowing, the report said. Chen said she did not realize what had happened until she found last month that the building was occupied by someone else and her belongings had gone.
Chen took Liao to the property lease management office in Shiyan early this month, asking for her deposit to be refunded and compensation, which totaled 100,000 yuan.
China announced a new regulation last week to protect tenants and further regulate the country s residential leasing market, which is scheduled to come into effect in February.
Under the new rule, property owners will not be allowed to raise rents without first reaching an agreement with tenants during the lease period.
It also prohibits property owners from dividing apartments into smaller rooms and renting them out separately to make more money.
(Mu Zi)
