Trouble with new apartment in Beijing

In the last 48 hours I think I have had as many ups and downs as Floyd Landis in the Tour de France. The previous person who rented this apartment rented it through an agency. When I decided to rent the apartment, the previous renter and I went to the agency and changed the name on the contract from her name to my name. That was all troublesome enough until Monday when I tried to register at the police station.

First, I know that law in China requires that foreigners register at the local police station upon moving into a neighborhood. There are even signs in my building in English reminding any foreigners to go register. The key is that the owner of the apartment must also go to the police station as well and show proof he owns the property. I went to the building office and asked where I should register and got the name of the police station. However, the office called the owner of the apartment and he refused to go with me to the police station. I later discovered many apartment owners do not want to notify the police that they are renting out an apartment because then they have to pay taxes of 5~15% on the rental income.

I decided to go to the police station and at least say I am here to register, even if the owner refuses to go. Again, I had my Chinese friend Phoebe (her English name) go with me.

The police station was hard to find. Far off from the main road, on a little street the size of an alleyway, surrounded by little shops and warehouses. Finally upon getting there, I talked with the police myself first, asking my friend to stay behind. I felt that maybe on my own as a foreigner I could get more cooperation. If I bring my friend they may be stricter.

Well, the police told me if the owner would not come, then an employee of the agency who rented me the apartment must come with me, bring a photocopy of the owner’s ID and a statement why the owner could not be present. (Though I should say the police first said they wanted to see the owner’s original ID card, but later said a copy would suffice) I got the police to write down everything they wanted so I could show it directly to the agency and get them to cooperate.

So I went to the agency. Now I first should say agencies in China have a bad reputation for cheating people and I was warned by Phoebe, but I really wanted the apartment and when I saw the agency everything seemed on the up and up. They have a nice office in a nice building with 30 plus employees seemingly to be working diligently. I should have taken more notice when I heard other customers yelling at the company staff. I thought that was just the Chinese way of doing business.

Anyway, the agency was surprisingly cooperative and said they would send a guy off with me the police station with the paperwork. We left the building and stepped into a taxi. Unfortunately this driver did not know exactly where this hard-to-find police station was, and I could not remember the directions to get there and we got lost. Finally we had to call the police station and have them talk to the driver on a cell phone.

Anyway, we all finally arrive at the police station and walk into the office. Before I we get in these non-uniformed guys (they looked like mafia guys to me) start telling us what to do. I was not sure if they were the police or not, but the uniformed officers seemed unfazed and Phoebe told me they were the police. Well, it did not seem the officers and the guy from the agency got along well and there were some unkind words between them. I could only pick up that he did not have his ID card with him. At this point I was still believing the agency guys were alright and the police were being difficult.

Suddenly, the agency guy makes some calls and tells me that I can not live in that room anymore. They can not rent that room to me because they can not help me register! My jaw dropped and I just was looking into space. I didn’t imagine it would come to this. The agency guy said he would show me other places. They already had my money since I paid a deposit and three months rent after signing the contract, so I had to work with them.

Later that day the agency called saying they had an apartment for rent a little father away for 6000 RMB a month( that’s over US $750 dollars!), and asking would I be willing to accept it. Haha, I laughed at that. I was just still in a state of shock that I may lose the apartment I just moved into. I started thinking about things like they would be forced to evict me if I stay because they do not show me any reasonable apartments and do not return my money etc etc.

Strangely, I had some feelings that this still could be resolved and I would be able to keep my apartment. Well, the next morning Phoebe had taken some action. She first checked the agency and discovered that in fact, the agency was not legally licensed. She next contacted the police station to see exactly what the problem was and what they needed from the agency. She realized there must be a misunderstanding that the police only wanted a personal ID from the agency guy and not an ID from the company proving that it was legitimate. So if the agency could send someone who just had a legit personal ID that would be sufficient. Maybe the guy they sent before did not have an ID because as I have said before many people illegally take up residence in Beijing using fake IDs.

Anyway, Phoebe called the agency and discussed this issue and the agency agreed to send another guy. But I was worried if it failed this time that I would certainly lose the apartment and maybe some money. Fortunately, the agency guy came back and brought a personal ID. After some tense minutes in the police station and filling out paperwork, it was done, I was officially registered. I found out that if I did not register I could be fined up to 50 RMB a day by the police.

But finally, after the registration was completed, the police wanted the agent to pay the required tax of 1000RMB (which the owner of the apartment must pay!) The agency guy called his office, which turned around and called me through Phoebe. They promptly said the owner refused to pay and that I should pay! We immediate told the police who said that we should not pay and they gave a long lecture to the agency guy.

I discovered that the police were doing what is right and the agency is constantly trying to evade responsibility and get money where they can. I think the police were actually looking out for me in a way.

Anyway, I am getting the locks changed on my door today so I will for sure be the only key holder to the apartment. The agency may call me about the tax concern, but I plan on telling them about how I am cooperating with police and how they told me that I should not pay that. I know the agency does not want to deal with the police.

Of the different lessons I learned, I learned that you should not always let appearances dictate what or who you believe. Furthermore, in China, never deal with a middleman.

Finally, I also believe Floyd Landis is innocent and won the Tour de France.