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Posts: 1330

Shifu

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Q: Refuse to rent it because laowai?

I went see one apartment and another i just called the landlord. In both case they didn't want to rent the apartment to a white foreigner, a caucasian (aka Laowai).

 

In the first one, the agent told us that the "wuye" is afraid of foreign spies and they dont want foreigners, white foreigners (he added as i asked him how about japanese, vietnamese and so on),to live there. Earlier a guy, they told us, had to leave after 3 days as the police and wuye went to his place.

 

The second one i just called in chinese, then after some minutes i ask if he is fine with a foreigner renting the apartment, so  he asked me" are you a laowai???". At that point i told him in chinese "yes, mainland locust" and i hang off.对啊, 你大陆 蝗虫。。。。

 

wtf

8 years 33 weeks ago in  Lifestyle - China

 
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Posts: 201

Governor

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Most likely because the landlord is illegally/unofficially renting out his properties (not paying tax on the income).

The difference between renting to a local and renting to a foreigner is the foreigner will need to have a government endorsed/recognized lease agreement to present to the police for residence registration, so now you can see the problem.

Hotwater:

Have an upvote for what I believe to be the correct reason. 

8 years 33 weeks ago
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ScotsAlan:

Have another upvote for the correct answer :-) Tax avoidance + police registration for foreigners do not mix.

8 years 33 weeks ago
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expatlife26:

oh yeah this probably is the right answer. 

 

There's another thing along those lines that sometimes when they move peasants off their farmland into free apartments they dont *quite* get the full rights to do things like rent them out.

 

Since an expat needs to register theres extra layer of paperwork.

 

+1 from me too!

8 years 33 weeks ago
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RandomGuy:

Definitely the right answer. They are just making excuses to save face so they don't have to admit that they dodge taxes.

Landlords usually love renting to White foreigners because we do not trash the place unlike Chinese people who will only maintain a home that they bought, a rented place will be destroyed in a matter of months.

8 years 33 weeks ago
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Hulk:

This is why I love ECC.

8 years 33 weeks ago
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8 years 33 weeks ago
 
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Posts: 4421

Emperor

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That sucks. Where did this happen?

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8 years 33 weeks ago
 
Posts: 2878

Shifu

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That's a stupid landlord. Good to vet them ahead of time.

 

A good landlord will give an expat a discount for several reasons

 

1. We don't tend to swarm, an apartment rented to an expat will likely have at most a couple living there together.

 

2. Higher standards, we'll keep it cleaner because even if we don't hold the deed to it it's still our home in our minds and the standard which it is kept reflects on us. Also our friends will have higher standards so we won't let the place go to shit and look trashy for living there.

 

3. Stability, we're unlikely to trash the place and just ditch out. Most of us are on at least yearly contract, not just working in the big city for a couple months and scurrying back to our farmer towns.

 

If they won't rent to you, they aren't anybody you want to be renting from.

 

 

 

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8 years 33 weeks ago
 
Posts: 3256

Emperor

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It's a good filter to detect awful landlord. It's a blessing, really, imagine the kind of crap those people are able to pull...

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8 years 33 weeks ago
 
Posts: 201

Governor

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Most likely because the landlord is illegally/unofficially renting out his properties (not paying tax on the income).

The difference between renting to a local and renting to a foreigner is the foreigner will need to have a government endorsed/recognized lease agreement to present to the police for residence registration, so now you can see the problem.

Hotwater:

Have an upvote for what I believe to be the correct reason. 

8 years 33 weeks ago
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ScotsAlan:

Have another upvote for the correct answer :-) Tax avoidance + police registration for foreigners do not mix.

8 years 33 weeks ago
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expatlife26:

oh yeah this probably is the right answer. 

 

There's another thing along those lines that sometimes when they move peasants off their farmland into free apartments they dont *quite* get the full rights to do things like rent them out.

 

Since an expat needs to register theres extra layer of paperwork.

 

+1 from me too!

8 years 33 weeks ago
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RandomGuy:

Definitely the right answer. They are just making excuses to save face so they don't have to admit that they dodge taxes.

Landlords usually love renting to White foreigners because we do not trash the place unlike Chinese people who will only maintain a home that they bought, a rented place will be destroyed in a matter of months.

8 years 33 weeks ago
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Hulk:

This is why I love ECC.

8 years 33 weeks ago
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8 years 33 weeks ago
 
Posts: 267

Governor

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It's not only limited to Caucasians btw... 

 

You are lucky, it happened before you actually moved.

 

Last year I was in Beijing... I was looking to rent an apartment just for couple of months, I asked my friend for help and she said her contract ends in couple of months so if we find a house for me and then she could move in after I leave, timing worked out perfect for both of us... I paid her and she paid the money to the broker (we both signed on the contract so I could register with the police), the broker knew I was a foreigner and I guess he didn't inform the landlord... anyways I spent one night and found leakage in the kitchen. I let my friend know and she called the landlord, the landlord came over, saw me... went back to the broker, paid all the money back and asked us to move out  … luckily previous night it was late I didn’t move everything and also I managed to work out a better deal with the hotel I was living in for the next month.  

 

Now I am in Suzhou, Changed apartment twice and looked at least 25 different apartments and nobody ever said being a foreigner could be an issue…. and I am Brown!! 

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8 years 33 weeks ago
 
Posts: 544

Shifu

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Meh, not all that complicated. Sometimes, it's not about complex excuses, and the person is just an asshat racist. I was denied an apartment due to the landlord considering my race too dirty.

 

Better to identify those people soon as you can.

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8 years 33 weeks ago
 
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