Can a Tenant Require a Deposit to Be a Returned?

In March, when the graduate school admissions results are out, newly accepted graduates celebrate joyfully while at the same time seeking appropriate rental accommodation🏠. However, with numerous rental pitfalls and a constant stream of past disputes, how can tenants protect their rights? 

Today, let the Legal English series remind you of what you should pay attention to before signing a rental agreement with your landlord!

❓After signing the contract, if you suddenly receive notice from the school dormitory that you've been allocated a bed from the waiting list, can you request to terminate the contract and get the deposit refunded?

💬 The nature of a deposit is a commitment made prior to contract fulfillment. In the context of residential leasing, when a tenant expresses interest in renting a property and the landlord agrees to lease it, the tenant pays a sum of money in advance to the landlord to ensure that both parties will adhere to the lease agreement. According to the Civil Code of our country, if the inability to fulfill the contract is attributable to the party who paid the deposit, they may not request its return.

💡 Consequently, if you have the possibility of successfully obtaining a dormitory bed in the future, you can negotiate separately with the landlord in writing at the time of deposit to agree that "if dormitory seats become available before a specified date, the tenant reserves the right to cancel the lease agreement and the landlord must refund the rent". This way, you can easily address this issue!

Hopefully, today's post will be useful to you! In the future, we will continue introducing more situations that renters may encounter and provide some solutions. Continue to follow us✨!