Jia had a house that needed to be rented out, so he found an intermediary company and issued a "House Entrustment Agency" to it, and the two parties signed a "House Rental Entrustment Contract". The contract stipulates that Jia has full authority to entrust the intermediary company to be the exclusive agent for house rental matters. The intermediary company will pay him a rent of 1,800 yuan per month and pay it quarterly. Subsequently, the intermediary company signed a "House Lease Contract" with Ms. Sun, agreeing to lease Jia's house to Ms. Sun for one year, a deposit of 1,800 yuan, and a rent of 1,100 yuan/month. Ms. Sun paid a total of rent plus deposit. Move in after 15,000 yuan.
However, the agency did not pay the rent to Jia as agreed and was unable to be contacted. Jia found the lessee, Ms. Sun, to negotiate the lease but failed, so he took away the water and electricity card of the house, and Ms. Sun was forced to move out of the house involved. Subsequently, Ms. Sun filed a lawsuit with the People's Court of Huaiyin District, Jinan City, Shandong Province, demanding that the agency company and Jia return a total of 15,000 yuan in rent and deposit, and requested that the "House Rental Contract" signed with the agency company be terminated.
The court held that Jia signed a "House Rental Entrustment Contract" with the intermediary company, and that the intermediary company signed a "House Rental Contract" with Ms. Sun. The two contracts are different in nature. It can be seen from the contents of the "House Rental Entrustment Contract" signed between the intermediary company and Jia that the intermediary company, as the trustee, must pay rent to Jia, as the principal. It can be seen that the purpose of the contract of the intermediary company is to obtain the benefits involved in the case by paying rent. The right to use the house and the right to income are different from the purpose of the trustee to obtain remuneration in a paid entrustment contract. The contractual relationship between Jia and the intermediary company is called an entrustment contract, but in fact it is a house rental contract.
The "House Rental Contract" signed by Ms. Sun and the agency company is the true expression of intention of both parties. It does not violate the mandatory provisions of laws and administrative regulations and should be legal and valid. Both parties should exercise their rights and perform their obligations in accordance with the contract. The intermediary company is the lessee of the house involved in the case, and the lease contract it signed with Ms. Sun is a sublease contract. Ms. Sun is the sub-lessee, and the intermediary company is the counterparty to the contract. Therefore, the lease between Ms. Sun and the intermediary company is The contract does not bind Jia, and Jia is not responsible for the return. As the lessee, the intermediary company should ensure the normal use of the house involved by the sub-lessee Ms. Sun during the lease period. Now because the intermediary company failed to pay the rent to the lessor Jia as agreed, lost contact after collecting the rent and deposit for the house involved in the case, and failed to perform its contractual obligations, Ms. Sun was unable to continue to use the house involved and was forced to move out. The intermediary company The rent and deposit paid by Ms. Sun should be returned. Ms. Sun's purpose of renting the house could not be realized, and she could not notify the intermediary company to terminate the contract. Therefore, when Ms. Sun moved out and delivered the house involved to Jia, the lease contract relationship between her and the intermediary company should be deemed to be terminated.
In the end, Huaiyin Court ruled in accordance with the law that the "House Rental Contract" signed by Ms. Sun and the agency company was terminated, and the agency company refunded the rent and deposit in total of 15,000 yuan. The court rejected Ms. Sun's request that Jia be jointly responsible for returning the rent and deposit. be supported.
When defending the rights of sublet tenants, they should first clarify the party in breach of contract.
Li Qiaoying, deputy chief judge of the Administrative (Comprehensive) Tribunal of Huaiyin Court, said that the lease contract refers to the contract in which the landlord rents the house to an intermediary company and the intermediary company pays the rent; the entrustment contract refers to the agreement between the landlord and the intermediary company to entrust the house to the company. For leasing, the landlord pays a certain remuneration and the company exercises the leasing rights on its behalf within the entrusted authority. The Civil Code stipulates that an entrustment contract is a contract in which the principal and the trustee agree that the trustee will handle the principal's affairs. Entrustment contracts include paid entrustment contracts and free entrustment contracts. In a paid entrustment contract, the trustee's purpose is to obtain compensation for completing the entrusted affairs.
In this case, although the intermediary company showed Ms. Sun a "Housing Agency Letter" indicating that it had the right to act on behalf of the landlord Jia in renting out the house involved in the case, the content of the "House Rental Agency Contract" signed between it and Jia It can be seen that the contractual relationship between Jia and the intermediary company is actually a house rental contract.
At present, intermediary entrustment service is an emerging business model in house leasing. It means that the intermediary company signs a "House Rental Entrustment Contract" with the landlord. After obtaining the right to use the house, it then signs a "House Lease" with the tenant in the name of the company. Contract" and collect rent from the tenant on its own. In this case, once the agency breaches the contract, the landlord will often evict the tenant who has paid the rent to the leasing agency, causing the tenant to be forced to move out, causing disputes. In such disputes, disputes often arise between intermediaries, landlords and tenants over who is the defaulting party.
Generally speaking, the relationship between landlords and intermediaries is divided into two types: principal-agent relationship and house leasing relationship. In the case of a principal-agent relationship, the house leasing contract signed between the intermediary and the tenant can be regarded as the house leasing contract signed directly between the landlord and the tenant. The tenant can directly assert rights against the landlord based on the content of the contract and require the landlord to perform its contractual obligations; In the case of a house leasing relationship, the intermediary and the tenant sign a house leasing contract again. This contract can only bind the intermediary and the tenant. The tenant cannot directly claim rights against the landlord. If a dispute occurs, the tenant can only ask the intermediary company Take responsibility.
The judge reminded that when renting out a house, landlords need to choose a housing management company with complete licenses and good reputation. When renting a house, tenants must also check whether the leasing promotion information of the intermediary company is true. Landlords must not blindly covet high rent prices, and tenants should not be gullible when renting a house that is significantly lower than the market price. For rental houses with a lower price, you should avoid paying a large amount of rent in one go. At the same time, you should make payments to the corporate account specified in the lease contract and pay carefully to individual salespersons to ensure the safety of your own funds. In addition, a standardized house rental contract must be signed between the landlord and the tenant. Oral promises should not be taken lightly. The rights and obligations of both parties should be clearly stipulated. (Rule of Law Daily Reporter: Liang Pingni Correspondent: Li Chenshuo)