Tenants renting out space beware
- Source: Global Times
- [09:50 April 28 2010]
- Comments
By Ye Jun
With merely days to go before the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai gets underway, the city Tuesday announced plans to get tough on tenants illegally subleasing their apartments near the Expo park to visitors.
In an eleventh hour scramble to crack down on public security, no details were provided on how authorities will deal with city residents unlawfully cashing in on the six-month show, or what penalties will be given out for the crime.
The news comes after a man surnamed Liang was arrested by police Sunday for illegally running a chain of family hotels in Pudong New Area.
Liang is expected to be released after serving a fifth day in detention tomorrow, according to the Shanghai Public Security Bureau.
Police reported that Liang had been illegally renting four apartments on Yuqing Road, Dongsan Road, Pusan Road and Yaohua Road to visitors since March, charging daily rental fees as high as 688 yuan ($100).
Officials estimate that Liang, who failed to turn over the legally required documents needed to conduct such business, had acquired at least 4,700 yuan ($688) since engaging in the illicit activity.
Tenants opting to sublease their apartment to others must be approved to do so by the government according to Chinese law, said a lawyer surnamed Geng with Hengxin Law Firm who declined to disclose his full identity.
But the legal boundaries surrounding subleasing, a practice that tenants commonly resort to over lengthy periods of time, are, however, blurred when it comes to short-term rentals of such kind, he added.
The news leaves some local residents who have been subleasing their apartments to visitors concerned they may get into trouble with the law.
"I know that we are supposed to apply for a permit if we want to sublease our places," said Zou Pei, who currently rents out her one-bedroom flat near the Expo park without the proper papers.
"But I didn't bother because the authorities never carry out strict checks."
Shanghai Public Security Bureau spokeswoman Feng Xia declined to comment to the Global Times Tuesday on whether it is illegal for tenants to sublease their homes to others on a daily basis.
But she said that they do not encourage the practice as constantly changing the occupants of a home increases public safety risks such as fire and theft.
