When renting a house encounters a similar situation of "lantern damage assessment", how to protect your rights and interests?

4月19日，紅星新聞記者從貴州省貴陽市花溪區人民法院獲悉，日前，該院披露了這樣一起案件：租客退房時，被房主以“驗房時檯燈有灰塵，小碗丟失，鍋碗瓢盆不在原位等”為由不退還押金。經審理，最終，法院判決房主退還租客押金1500元。

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You can't get your deposit back when you check out of your rental car

Homeowner: The lamp is dusty, the pots and pans are not in place

According to the information disclosed by the Huaxi District People's Court, the tenant, as the plaintiff, signed a "Housing Lease Contract" with the landlord as the defendant, and the contract stipulated that the plaintiff leased the defendant's house in a certain community for a period of two years, with a rent of 1500 yuan per month, and the rent was paid once every six months, with a deposit of 0 yuan, and the deposit would be returned at the end of the lease period.

After the plaintiff moved in, he found that the house was in disrepair, the sofa in the house was dusty, the curtains and refrigerator were moldy, and the electrical appliances such as the TV were damaged and unusable. Before the expiration of the lease time, the plaintiff informed the defendant 2 months in advance that he would not continue to rent the house in the future, and requested a refund of the deposit, but the defendant refused to return it, and sued the court after calling the police to deal with it without success.

The plaintiff believed that it had conducted friendly negotiations with the defendant and his son before replacing the new items, and the defendant agreed that the plaintiff would replace the items at his own expense, and that the value of the new items was greater than the old items, and that the plaintiff had not discarded or damaged the old items and were still well preserved in the house, and that the lease would not be renewed and had also notified the defendant in advance, and the defendant did not return them, and requested the court to refund the deposit of 1500 yuan.

The defendant agreed to the foregoing, and because the plaintiff and his wife were disgusted with some of the items in the house that had become moldy, they agreed to replace them at their own expense. When the defendant went to inspect the house, he found that there was dust in the lamp in the house, the plaintiff had not cleaned it, the pots and pans were not in their original position, and there were even signs of loss of small bowls, and he asked to clean them and restore the old things to their original places.

The Court decided:

The landlord's reason is that there is no evidence to refund the tenant's deposit of 1500 yuan

After trial, the court held that the Housing Lease Contract signed between the plaintiff and the defendant was an expression of the true intention of both parties, did not violate the mandatory provisions of relevant laws and regulations, and was legal and valid.

租賃期限屆滿後，原被告未續簽合同，根據《中華人民共和國民法典》第五百零九條 “當事人應當按照約定全面履行自己的義務。當事人應當遵循誠信原則，根據合同的性質、目的和交易習慣履行通知……”及第七百零四條“租賃合同是出租人將租賃物交付承租人使用、收益，承租人支付租金的合同”等規定，原告在租期屆滿前通過電話方式告知被告，符合法律規定。

With regard to the defendant's argument that "there was dust in the room during the inspection, the plaintiff did not clean it, the pots and pans were not in their original position, and there were even signs of loss of small bowls, so they would not be returned", he did not submit evidence to substantiate it, and the court did not accept his argument. The court supported the plaintiff's claim that the defendant should return the deposit of 1500 yuan.

After the judgment of the case, the presiding judge used the empathy method of psychology to the defendant and patiently guided the defendant, and then the defendant took the initiative to fulfill its obligations in cash, and the legitimate rights and interests of the plaintiff were protected.

法官提醒，租房時經常會遇到押金難退還，租房逾期不退房等情形，在簽訂租賃合同時，應明確租期、租金、押金以及房屋現狀等關鍵性條款，明確的內容可以從不同角度證明租賃雙方的權利義務關係，在租賃過程中，雙方都應妥善保管證據，以備不時之需。如發生糾紛，應進行積極協商，換位思考，互諒互讓。協商無果可報警或通過法律途徑維護合法權益，切勿採取極端方式導致損失擴大。當事人在訴訟階段，可根據《中華人民共和國民法典》第五百零九條、第七百零三條至第七百三十四條的規定進行維權。

Red Star News reporter Jiang Lin

Editor: Pan Li, Editor: Li Binbin

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