Hi! I have a problem with my housing agency in Shanghai regarding getting my deposit back. I signed a contract for 1 year but have to move out early as I communicated with them when signing the contract. They said it would be no problem as long as I find a replacement for myself, after being reassured I went for it and leased an room in a 3-bedroom apartment. So now to get my deposit back (2 months rent) I have to find a new person to rent my room. They said in March that the replacement needs to pay 4,100 per month, and have clarified to me now when I have already found a person to take over my lease that they raised the price to 4500 (three weeks before I need to move out). Could you please let me know if it's legal for the agency to increase prices like that on a monthly basis? I'm afraid that they did it to keep my deposit because even 4100 is a lot of money and most of my friends pay significantly less for a shared room in Jing'an. I was struggling to find anyone to take over the room for 4100 and after they told me that the price had increased to 4500 I think I will give up on looking for people to take over my lease. They have, however, just found a new roommate and he pays 4100 for a bigger more modern room than mine.
I have multiple problems with this agency and highly encourage everyone to stop using their services.
Other people have already mentioned other problems they were having with this agency, here are the links:
https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.p … 45#2826276https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=435614
Best regards,
Mak.
Finding replacement scam to keep deposit
You seem to be complaining because you broke the contract, so they kept your deposit.
Isn't that normal?
I didnt break the contract. If i want to get my deposit back I need to find a replacement to take over my lease. I found a new tenant willing to pay 4100, which is the price they told me would be for a replacement this year two months ago. After I told them that i found a replacament they said the rent increased to 4500.
Did you find a person to take over the place, and did they take over the contract?
If you did, they were at fault.
If you didn't, you broke the contract (unless there was a clause stating the rent wouldn't rise).
My question is more whether they can increase the price on a monthly basis. They told me it would be 4100 two months ago and now they have increased it to 4500. Is that legal? Last year the price was 4000 (what im paying now).
Hi mak.shanghai,
I think that you should contact a lawyer for your case or an another real estate agency to know more about the laws of agencies. They are more apt to help you.
Do note that Expat.com is above all a website where members share their expat experience.
Here is a small list of lawyers : https://www.expat.com/en/business/asia/ … s/lawyers/
Thank you,
Priscilla 
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