"Eggshell" dilemma
Hundreds of landlords and tenants of Eggshell Apartment Beijing headquarters line up to cancel contract
Recently, there have been overwhelming news about the explosion of the eggshell apartment on the Internet.
"Landlord and tenant conflict", "tenant was driven out of water and electricity when lock was changed", "young tenant committed suicide" and other incidents have caused widespread concern.
Public information shows that as of January 17, 2019, the number of rooms managed by Eggshell Apartments is close to 400,000.
Recently, Eggshell Apartments has been caught in a debt collection storm due to arrears of rent from the landlord and refunds from the tenants. There have been large-scale contract cancellations in the office areas of Eggshell Apartments in many places across the country, including Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.
On November 26, a reporter from Qilu Evening News Qilu One Point came to the eggshell apartment headquarters near the capital of Chaoyang, Dongcheng District, Beijing, and conducted a field visit.
Text / Film Qilu Evening News Qilu One Point
Reporter Yuan Ye Chen Chen
Landlord and tenant line up to cancel the contract
"Is the owner queuing here?" Ms. Zhang, in her 70s, spoke with an authentic Beijing accent and asked the last person in the queue.
On the morning of November 26, people crowded in front of an office building near Chaoyang Capital, Dongcheng District, Beijing.
The entrance and exit of the office building divided the crowd into two parts, one on the left and one on the right. On one side was the landlord. There were a large number of people, mainly middle-aged and elderly people.
On the other side are tenants, there are only two lines, almost all young people in line.
There are multiple security guards in front of the gate controlling the number of people entering and exiting the office building.
Public information shows that Eggshell Apartment is a high-end white-collar apartment brand under Ziwutong (Beijing) Asset Management Co., Ltd. The company was established in Beijing in January 2015 and officially entered the O2O rental market. It currently opens branches in Beijing and Shenzhen.
On the evening of January 17, 2020, Beijing time, Eggshell Apartments landed on the New York Stock Exchange.
It was a bit cold in Beijing on November 26. Ms. Zhang wore a long down jacket and a thick cotton hat.
Soon she was told by the other owners who were in the same line. There were dense notices posted on the glass door of the office building, which reminded people in different administrative districts to go to different reception points.
Ms. Zhang’s current eggshell apartment headquarters only accepts tenants and owners in Dongcheng District. Ms. Zhang’s house is located in Chaoyang District. She should go to the reception point at No.5 Niuwangmiaojia.
Two or three years ago, Ms. Zhang's house bought a new house in Chaoyang District. When it was being renovated, a stranger walked into her house.
"It's from the eggshell company. They recommend themselves when they enter the house." Ms. Zhang said. The eggshell company said that they can hand over the house to them for hosting, and they paid a rent of several thousand yuan per month. There will be a certain growth.
Feeling that the conditions given by the eggshell company are not bad, Ms. Zhang's family signed a contract with the eggshell company.
After the cooperation was reached, Eggshell Company renovated the 70-square-meter house of Ms. Zhang's house and transformed it into an eggshell apartment that can accommodate two households.
"In the beginning, the rent was paid once a quarter, and then changed to once a month. However, when they were supposed to pay me rent some time ago, I did not receive it." Ms. Zhang also heard about the accident at the Eggshell Apartment recently. News, so I came to the eggshell apartment headquarters and wanted to cancel the contract with them.
There is no loan for Ms. Zhang’s house, but because she and her wife have retired, part of the usual living expenses depends on rent.
Many landlords count on rent to repay loans or ease economic pressure.
An interviewed landlord said that the family has a house that needs to be repaid. In order for their children to go to school, they rented a house near their children's school, and then rented their house to Eggshell Apartment. Now they have to repay the loan and pay. The rent and the money for the eggshell apartment cannot be collected, and life is very stressful.
Rent deducted when tenants move out of the apartment
The line on the owner's side is getting longer and longer, and there are more and more people coming in line, but few people can enter the office building.
On the other side of the line is the tenant, under the guidance of the security, more than a dozen people can enter at a time.
Zhao Fang (pseudonym), who is in her early twenties this year, is a "beijing drifter." She couldn't imagine that she was almost homeless these days.
"I found a room in Changping from the Internet in May this year, and the people from Eggshell contacted me." Zhao Fang said that the rent for this house is 2,600 yuan per month. "The butler of Eggshell told me, There are activities now. If I rent for one year, I will be returned another 400 yuan every month, which is equivalent to nearly two months' rent cheaper."
The monthly rent is 2,200 yuan, which is very suitable for Zhao Fang.
"Later, the butler of the eggshell gave me a QR code and asked me to scan and fill in the information. After filling it out, the other party asked for my bank card number and said that the money returned would be printed on the card." Zhao Fang moved to the new home after completing the shell housekeeper’s request.
Zhao Fang's new home is not big. After putting down a bed, a table and a wardrobe in her room, there is not much space left.
Zhao Fang also has three roommates, who share a bathroom and a kitchen.
"At the beginning, I lived pretty well, but the return money promised by Eggshell was not given to me on time. In July, it gave me 400 yuan, and then it didn't." Zhao Fang said. They arranged for a cleaning staff to come to clean the room twice a month, "but after a few times, cleaning can't be arranged."
At the end of October, the water heater of Zhao Fang's house broke down. She reported the situation to the housekeeper several times, but she could not solve it.
"It wasn't until the beginning of November that I learned from the Internet that there was an accident with the eggshell, and many tenants were driven out by the landlord." Since he could still contact his housekeeper, Zhao Fang thought that there should be no accident with the eggshell in Beijing.
November 10 was the weekend, Zhao Fang and his roommates were sleeping late, and a sudden knock on the door awakened them.
"After opening the door, I found out that it was the landlord. He took a contract and said that he had not received the rent for 15 days. According to the contract, he has the right to take back the house. The landlord said that he would give us two or three days to find a house. Move out." Zhao Fang was a little confuse when the landlord said that, "I have already paid the rent, why was I kicked out?"
Zhao Fang hurriedly contacted the butler of Eggshell, but the other party did not answer WeChat or call.
"I called the customer service of Eggshell and no one answered it." The landlord was determined and had no choice. Zhao Fang looked for a house first.
"But after two or three days, I received another message. My bank card was deducted, and the deduction was the rent. But the landlord has not let me live, why is the rent deducted?"
By communicating with other tenants, Zhao Fang knew at this time that he had been granted a loan.
"The butler of Eggshell gave me a loan from Weizhong without my knowledge. In other words, Weizhong has already rented a year's house to Eggshell. My monthly rent is actually paying off the loan! "Zhao Fang said, now I can only borrow at a friend's house, "I have to pay back the loan later, what can I do? Eggshell should give me an explanation."
Xiao Gao, who is in the line, is currently in his junior year at a school in Tongzhou District, Beijing. He and 3 other boys rented a duplex apartment of about 70 square meters and paid for a year through a rent loan. rent.
"At the beginning, the butler of Eggshell clearly told me that I had taken out a loan and that I could get 15% of the rent back every month. But I didn't see this refund." Xiao Gao said that he had been ordered by the landlord to evict the guest.
In addition to tenants such as Zhao Fang and Xiaogao who pay rent through rent loans, there are also tenants who have paid half a year or even a year of rent at a time. These money is a lot of money for young people who are still in school and have just started working. Expenses, some young people have spent all their savings for this, or even overdraft.
"Eggshell says no money"
"1,2,3,4...15, you go in." The uniformed security guard walked to the middle of the line and patted the arms of 15 tenants in turn, letting them enter the office building.
Xiao Gao followed the people in front and walked into the office building. He first walked up the elevator to the second floor, and then guided by the staff with the badges to the area dedicated to receiving tenants, and scanned the QR code on the wall. , Fill in personal information and rental information, then called by the staff member, walked into a room.
Xiao Gao walked out after ten minutes.
The first sentence he said by a reporter from Qilu Evening News Qilu was, "Eggshell said they have no money." Xiao Gao said. He told a staff member of the eggshell about his situation and demands. He is now The most worrying problem is that the house is not live, but the rent loan has to be repaid. If it is not repaid, it is likely to cause credit problems.
The staff at Eggshell told him to apply for credit protection first, "I have already applied for this. They said that the loan will not be repaid by me, so I don't want to deposit money in the bank card used to repay the rent." In addition, Xiaogao They also said, “They said they would wait until March next year to check, if the company has money, it will help us repay and refund our rent. If the company has no money by then, the government has stepped in and will issue a related document.”
Xiao Gao said that the staff told him that he can apply for a refund on the Eggshell Apartment app, and the butler will contact him at that time, "The refunded deposit and rent will be sent to the app, but the money cannot be withdrawn, and the staff will Let me cut a picture as evidence."
After some conversation, Xiao Gao himself was a little confused, and the problem was still not solved clearly and fundamentally.
On the other hand, the two owners also came out after talking with the eggshell staff. They also got a response that "Eggshell has no money", "We came here today to terminate the contract, and now we have successfully terminated the contract. We still need to do something. Prove that it should not affect the tenant’s credit investigation.” A landlord said helplessly, “Now Eggshell says there is no money, and the rent owed to us is probably not returned.”
Eggshell employees say wages are owed
Due to the entry and exit of tenants and owners, the office area of the Eggshell Apartment is bustling, and there are many security guards and staff responsible for coordinating reception.
One of the staff members told the Qilu Evening News Qilu reporter that after the incident, some colleagues around him left their jobs one after another, and colleagues who were still sticking to their posts had not paid their wages for a month.
The staff member told Qilu Evening News Qilu reporter that the interview needs to contact the company's public relations department, but because of the company's current situation, colleagues in the public relations department work from home instead of arriving.
Then in accordance with the request of the other party, Qilu Evening News Qilu Yidian reporter forwarded the questions he wanted to know to the public relations department through the staff.
On November 27, the staff member replied that it was inconvenient for the public relations department to respond.
In addition, a reporter from Qilu Evening News and Qilu noticed that Weizhong Bank, the lending bank for rent loans, had issued an announcement suggesting that tenants continue to live during the paid rent period. If they have been forced to move out, they can contact Weizhong to resolve lease disputes.
Before March 31 next year, tenants’ credit reporting will not be affected.
On November 19, the Beijing Housing and Urban-Rural Development Committee stated that it had set up a special team for Eggshell Apartments, hoping to resolve the matter smoothly.
On November 25, the Shenzhen Property Management Industry Association also issued a notice to Eggshell Apartments, stating that it is not allowed to drive out tenants who are still within the lease term and have paid the rent in full by stopping water, electricity, or gas.