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Q: Will they catch me? OR are they even looking?
I posted this on the forum instead of the questions page. So I'm doing it here, too, now that I know how Sorry.
So, I recently left the country in a hurry. I wanted to leave before I was sued. But I want to know what would have happened if I had stayed. Here's my story:
I rented an apartment and on the day I moved in the water was shut off in the building. I hired an ayi to come in and wipe things down so I could unpack things. The movers unloaded a truck full of stuff and after three hours of unpacking, I paid the "Ayi" and we left. I went back to my old apartment to watch some tv.
Around 5 hours later I got a call from the real estate guy who had given me my keys that morning. He said my downstairs neighbors had called him because my apartment was flooding two apartments below mine. The "Ayi' had turned a faucet on while she was cleaning and when water didnt' come out she didn't turn it off. Water had been running for hours unchecked for hours.
I'll skip most of the clean up drama. I called everyone I knew and told them to come over for a mopping party. The neighbors were irate. Screaming, banging on the door. I had just watched a video on Chinasmack about a walmart employee who had spit in some lady's face for hitting his car with her bike - a mob formed and they beat his car to pieces. As I heard my neighbors doing the same thing to my door, I panicked.
The police arrived. They wanted me to come downstairs so they could give me a ticket. I told them I was busy. (I was trying to drain a swimming pool sized problem with a mop.) He didn't press the matter. After 4 hours of cleaning, most of my helpers went home and a Chinese friend came in and gave me the news. Each of my downstairs neighbors wanted 60,000 yuan in damages. I didn't have that much money.
But I also knew I wasn't the one who turned on the water. I had been unpacking, not cleaning. And the faucet that was one was a floor faucet in the bedroom hidden behind a curtain that I didn't even know was there. IT was the old cleaning lady. But she had worked for me for three hours and had only asked for 15 yuan. I KNEW she wouldn't be able to afford the charges. I couldn't ruin her life. I couldn't blame her. Not when I could take the blame and easily leave the country.
So I left the apartment with my friend and his parents and we started walking to my old place. It was past midnight, and as we walked we talked. I had decided to leave but I also knew that people don't tend to think rationally when they are in stressful situations. I also knew I had no understanding of the law in China. Was I was responsible for the damages if I wasn't the one who had turned the water on? I hadn't even had the place for more than 15 hours! What would happen to me if I stayed. I asked my friend's parents what I should do, and they said I should leave China before I was sued. So I did.
I snuck back upstairs, packed one suite case and left a moving truck full of my belongings inside the apartment.
I couldn't get a flight for the next day, so I spent the morning at my old place. I found the cleaning lady for my old apartment building and invited her upstairs to my old place and todl her she could take anything she wanted. She took it all. Then I drove to my milky tea place and said goodbye. I went next door the the jewelry store and gave the lady there my dog. THen I drove to friend's house and hid out for a day before my flight left the next morning.
I made it through customs just fine. But I kept looking over my shoulder. I got to Beijing, but didn't try to cash in my money because that would need my passport and what if it was flagged? Please remember I have already admitted to thinking irrationally when under stress. I made it through security again but when I was on the place that would take me back to America, we were going down the runway and then we weren't. The captain came on and said we were turning around. Then he explained it was for some flight reason. But just for a second my heart stopped. They had found me.
I know my "crime" is small and they only do stuff like that for drug lords and what not, but I still got to live my own version of The Bourne Legacy for a few days. It was a quite exciting. but now I wonder - was it all for nothing? Was it even necessary?
So here are my questions:
1. What do you think happened to my stuff? I figured they might sell it. But who gets the money? THe landlord, whose woodent floors were damaged? THe neighbors? The real estate guy? OR did they just throw it all away? Divy it up amongst the neighbors?
2. The real estate guy called my friend's dad the next day asking if he knew where I was, that perhaps had run. How long before they unlocked the apartment and figured I had abandoned it?
3. What would have happened if I had stayed and could not pay the money? Jail or deportation?
4. Is there a way, other than applying for a new z visa, to know if I am black listed?
5. I heard a few days ago that the neighbors are going to sue the landlord now. Do you think they will win? She wasn't even in the city when it happened.
6. In China, who is the responsible party in this situation? Me, the ayi, or the landlord?
6. What would you have done?
11 years 18 weeks ago in Visa & Legalities - Other cities
I would think this all is the landlords problem. Did he tell you not to use the water? If the place is in a state where this would have happened surely he is at fault for renting it out.
I do not know the laws here, maybe the rental contract would say something about it. I would certainly have forwarded any claims from downstairs neighbors to the landlord. The fact that each demand 60000 rmb is ridiculers, any claim should be for having the damage fixed, not for a sum of cash. I know water damage can be pretty bad but you can do a lot of renovation in China for 60000
Amberstar:
yeah, I thought 60,000 was ridiculous, too. And times that by two apartments. If they had been asking for a reasonable amount I might not have been so paranoid.
I never even met the landlord. She was actually in another city. I only dealt with the real estate company. There was nothing wrong with the apartment - it was actually gorgeous - had a fire place and everything! But the water was off in the whole building for the day. There was even a notice on the front foor of the building that the water would be off from a certain time to a certain time.
I was afraid to stay and forward any claims to anyone - I wanted to get out while I could. But now I wonder what would have happened if I had stayed. . .
As far as the ridiculous sum they asked for - they just saw that I was a foreigner and figured I was rich. I looked into thier units on my way down stairs - all of their belongings totaled couldn't equal 60,000!
Sidi:
I just hope you paid the Ayi more than 15RMB.....(the water issue aside). I have just survived a week of learning that PhD holders in China have a basic salary of 3000RMB, still traumatised.
Now your situation: to be honest I feel that you did try somehow to minimise the situation; you did clean, you did ask for advice, and the situation was totally out of your control (actually the note said there would be no water, but the water actually came when it wasn't supposed to). And it wasn't a situation of the 'white' guy who had a party and vandalised the property, mini pool party playing with water 
, it was just an accident. Buuut, you are a foreigner in China, and if you've read some posts you will learn that some foreigners here have always had to pay in situations of accidents (out of court settlements) of course some of which the accidents were staged. 'It's usually always the foreigner's fault'.
I would probably have gone home, even if you fled to a different part of China, they would catch you at one of the airports or train stations, I am under the impression that systems here are well integrated, and Chinese don't take well foreigners breaking their law...not that you did but you get me. That being said about the attitude of Chinese towards foreigners, especially 'westerners'...I believe they were seriously going to claim that money, like you said they are now suing the landlord; they probably wouldn't have claimed it for renovation as that is the landlord's job, but instead would have claimed it for their spoiled TVs, carpets and all other things they probably didn't have. You might have done yourself a favour. That's RMB60 000 multiplied by.............I don't really take it as fleeing responsibility, I take it as going to your country so that if the issue became bigger than you thought, like being requested to pay such amounts, then you would be in a country where you will have chance of fair representation.
Amberstar:
Sidi - thanks for the support. And yes, I paid the lady more than 15 yuan. I even hired her on the downlow to come back the next day. We weren't going to tell her agency so that she could keep all the money I gave her, instead of giving some of it to the agency.
I have heard of people getting deported, though, who just get a new passport when they get home - with a new number, you know - and then come right back to china. They get back in with no problems.
If you left them with any identification they will keep it on record and report your name to the po po or ( Police). The police would probably forward your information to the authorities around the airport because as you say they know you are a foreigner. With the damage that happened if they are suing the Landlord you better believe that Landlord will want the fingers to be pointed at someone else beside him/her.
Expect that Landlord to do just that. That Landlord will report you and if your name comes up anywhere they will find you. Afterall it was the place that you were still responsible that ruined other people's homes. It is just like if there was a fire you would be at fault. Since this was water and there were damages it still doesn't matter you are at fault. The ayi wasn't responsible for that apartment. If anything if they sue you you have the right to shift the focus to the ayi, but you already stated that is not your motivation.
So here is what it looks like. The neighbors are blaming a particular apartment and whoever was living there or responsible for that place at the time. So they will either point the finger at you or the Landlord. Neighbors pointing fingers at Landlord- Landlord pointing fingers at you-you pointing fingers at Ayi. That's how the law works!
Traveler:
What a load of rubbish. Nobody is going to go to all that trouble over a little water. It is a private civil matter, not a criminal matter, and certainly not worth causing an international incident over. Stop making up stories to try and scare people.
how come tap fitted without a drain???.... i have never seen such a thing...
I had similar water problem once... winter was too cold for me ... so i left the apartment and reneted a new one... but we had paid for 1 year.. so i dint return the old... in winter water in tap/pipe frozen - which means expansion of volume.. which broke the pipe/tap and water leaked for days... the only damage was the water bill which was settled for ~500rnb as i remember ... some security guy noticed and had informed us ... otherwise i dont know if it would have reached 5000 or not...
no other damages as if there is tap .. there should be drain!!!
Amberstar:
The drain - I know, right? Why didn't it drain? I guess there's only so much a drain can take. When we first walked into the apartment (it was me, a maintenance man, and some frilly neighbor lady who just welcomed herself in) and we got the to the bathroom I felt a sudden relief. There was no leak. NO water spewing. But then we noticed the water was deeper at the back of the apartment. So we walked to the bedroom. Those two were in front of me and when the maintenance man thought to move the curtain and we saw the sink running I immediately told him to turn it off and he said no! My concern was to stop the flow of water to lessen the damage to the people downstairs but he wouldn't turn it off! The frilly lady whipped out her cell phone and started filming. That's when I realized they weren't trying to solve the problem, they were trying to blame me. So I shoved them out of my way, turned them off and started screaming at them to get out of my house. Then I slammed the door and got to work with my mop.
Scandinavian:
I believe we have a drain in one of the bathrooms that is basically just a hole in the concrete, then fitted with the same shiny metal thing that the working drain in the shower room has. It can only have about one liter of water, the water will drain away from there at about the same speed as it can evaporate. Maybe slowly soak into cracks in the concrete and end up downstairs.
Thakkudu:
@scandinavian : seems u have a problem which is very common.. blocked drain.. should admit drainage systems are so poorly designed here...
try take out the shining metal and see if the small gap is filled with hair/rubbish... is so you are lucky.. just clean and install back ...
otherwise u have to call plumber... who will come with a long cable connected with a motor.. and clean the whole pipe... well... should remember that the guy uses the same cable to clean toliet block as well... so make sure he wont touch anythign in your house!!
You rented the apartment but the landlord owns the apartment. Follow Traveler's advise above. First, under the law, it is the landlord that will be held responsible. RMB 60,000 for each apartment? That is major structural damage in China and I can't believe that is a real number. I once had my apartment seriously flooded and it took a lot of haggling and a lot of repairs and it still was under RMB 5,000.00. They will go after the landlord first -- he will come after you in a civil court. You should have remained calm and held your ground. This happens all the time around here.
Amberstar:
that makes me feel better - that you were able to handle it for such a low amount of money.
Troll. Its the landlords problem to start with. My washing machine broke and flooded one room which then leaked into the apartment downstairs. Actually the guy below was alright about it and said to speak to my landlord. I don't believe your story is real for a second. No drain? 60 000 in repairs for 2 apartments? What? Did it flood through 2 floors? And no one said contact the landlord? Sorry, but it sounds fake.
Amberstar:
There WAS a drain. It was one of those on-the-floor-mop-sinks. But any drain that's slow won't be able to drain a steady stream of water for hours on end. I was on the 3rd floor, so yes, the two apartments below me had damage, too.
xunliang:
So it was just a tap which ran onto the floor? I guess it's possible for China, but unlikely in a house which you said was so good, and even had a fireplace. The cost of the damages was rubbish, even if they made you pay they can't just come up with a price themselves, someone would have to assess it. The landlord should have insurance, if not it's still not going to cost 120,000. I can't be arsed to go on arguing with you because I don't believe its true. No one told you to contact the landlord? And you're not in China anymore so sod off, what the fuck does it matter anymore? Get a life and stop posting crap on a forum for a country your no longer in about a problem you no longer have. If you're question is "can you come back" then probably yes. I wouldn't imagine they would come looking for you. Maybe the landlord would report you but whether or not the police give a shit is another matter.
