Dramaaaaa!!!

Hi, after my week from the field, it was very very hectic.  As you recall, I signed the contract and moved into my new place.  Well that ended up being a drama.  But I am happy to say that I have relocated to a new apartment.  So how did this happen you ask?

So before I left for the field, I wrote a letter to the real estate agent and the landlord asking if they were going to fulfill the contract.  The reason why I wrote this letter was because I had been in the apartment for three days and the list of things which they said they would fix had still not been completed. The bathtub still had a leek; my microwave was still on top of the fridge which I cannot reach as the kitchen counter was too small to put it on, and I could not reach it. There were other issues among this. 

I wrote this letter because I was going away for a whole week and wanted to know if I would need to move out before I went to the field; if they were not going to fulfill the contract.  They indicated that they would and I should therefore leave my stuff in the apartment.  In the letter I informed them that I would pay the rent deposit once the list of things which they said they would fix and bring to the apartment is completed. 

They agreed.

So I left on Sunday to Vinh City, and retuned a week later on a Saturday.  When I returned the only thing that was fixed was the sink, everything was still as it was. I thought I would address it on Monday was I was too tired.

 

On Saturday I went by the store to buy bread, on my way up to my apartment a woman ask for my phone number as the landlord wanted it.  I provided to her.  The landlord text me and asked for his money.  This was a surprise to me, as I wrote like a two page letter detailing what the contract said and also what they have failed to do. 

I contacted the real-estate agent and asked her if she had forwarded the letter and if the landlord understood it. She said she did and in fact explains to the landlord what the contract meant, he understood the letter. I told her that he texted me asking for his money.  She said she did not understand why he would. The real-estate agent asked if everything was there. I indicated in fact the only thing that was fixed was the bathtub, otherwise nothing else. She said she thought perhaps we should look for a new apartment.  I agreed. However we would start on Monday.

On Sunday the real-estate’s partner came to my apartment to check if everything was done.  I told him no, and emphasized that the shower curtain used by the previous tenant is still hanging in the bathroom, I asked for it to be changed and they still have not changed it  (Please note I am paying for a furnished apartment, which means everything has to be in the apartment). He took the shower curtain, and hours later the maid came with the same curtain, washed. It still had stains on it.  I was too tired to speak broken Vietnamese with the maid.

On Monday the real-estate agent called me and asked if we may look at some apartments.  I agreed. We went to look at four apartments that I had rejected earlier.  I was too tired to get upset. Or maybe I was just over it. So I just said I did not like it and I had rejected these apartments earlier. 

After work on Monday I went to look at some apartments of my own. Around 8pm, I was coming home from looking at one apartment when the real-estate agent called me.  She indicated 

That the landlord called her and told her that I had to be out of the apartment tonight or tomorrow morning as he had rented out the apartment. WHAT!!! That is what I said. I was like since when and I think we should meet and talk.  The real-estate agent proceeded to tell me that had I paid the rent and forgot about what the contract had said I would not have been in this mess that I am in. Either way the landlord wanted me out.  I asked her to contact the landlord so that she, my manager, and the landlord may sit down tonight and talk about it.  She said she would. 

An hour or so later I called her and asked if the landlord was coming as it was 21h30 and I still had not heard from her or the landlord.  She asked me if the landlord was there. WHAT! She herself is not at my house! Anyway I told her no he was not. She indicated that she told her partner to call but I guess he did not. She suggests that we talk tomorrow. 

So I spent a few hours folding and packing my stuff.  Additionally I contact some apartments on the New Hanoian website.  I then made some appointment to see apartments at 9h00 the next morning. 

The whole day on Tuesday was spent looking for an apartment. I decided to settle on one that I wanted before but it was not set up yet.  It was now set up and ready to be moved it.  This was perfect. 

At around 6pm, the real-estate agent called me and told me that she went by the apartment but she was told that I had moved out.  WHAT!! If you recall she is the one that called me and told me that the landlord wanted me out last night, the latest this morning as someone was moving in. I was like yea; I did as you told me the landlord wanted me out. 

She once again blames me by going according to the contract. If I was more flexible, then this would not have happen.  RIGHT! As if people here do not lose their money all the time.  Hence the reason why I did not pay because this is a common practice. 

She asked if I was going to go with her tomorrow to look for a place I was like sure. So the next day we went to see some shabby places and she asked me to pick one.  I indicated that I was not interested in any of those.  She became upset and told me that she does not know what to do with me.  As I did not seem to like want anyone of the apartments that she was showing me.  I was too tired and annoyed to argue. Plus I had that apartment in mind. 

The next day she called me to see other places. I told her that I was not interested as I had found an apartment.  She was like okay; well I will come by your work so that you may pay the rent and utility for the time you stayed in the apartment. Sarcastically I was like “okay, sure, whatever”

So she came by my work on Wednesday and brought the bill.  In the meeting was my Vietnamese colleague, my manager the real-estate agent and I.  Basically she wanted me to pay the electricity bill, and half a month of rent.  She put this in and envelope and laid it on the table. 

In the meeting she express that she tried to help me by asking the landlord to fulfill the contact but it is a slow process. Also while I was gone a week the landlord was supposed to have done it. She asked her partner and the partner told her everything was done so she did not check. She did not realize that nothing was done.  If I had paid then the landlord would have fulfill the contract. 

I informed her that in the contract it said that once I sign the contract, everything would be fixed but once it was signed, nothing was done. Also a week was given while I was away to get everything fixed and nothing was still done. Also in my letter that I wrote before I left for my fieldwork it said that.  She indicated to my Vietnamese colleague that in Vietnam the contract doesn’t really mean anything.  It’s just a formality. 

My colleague got really mad and told her that what was the point of the contract is if it does not mean anything. In our company some of the colleagues have been ripped off by landlords pulling the same tactic; that was why I was informed not to pay before all of these were done.

Furthermore and to keep this meeting from being longer than it is becoming, it says in the contract that if the list of things which they are suppose to provide was not done, then the contract would be void and “the lessee would not be relived of her contractual duties.”  This went on for a while.  The landlord asked us to give her a list of the case we are presenting to her as she clearly understand that they do not have a case so she need to go back to the office to present our case to her manager.  We listed our case for her and she left. 

The next day she said she wanted to meet again with us with her partner. We said Friday would be fine. On Friday she and her colleague came. He was all about yelling and screaming. My colleagues once again, my manager, Vietnamese colleague and I sat there and listen to this fool make a fool of himself.  After we ignored him and spoke back to the real-estate as if he did not exist. We informed the both of them that they broke the contract and we are going with the contract.

This time they open the envelope with the bill.  The bill said that I owe a month of electricity. Which was false as the bill was much higher than owning a full house.  My manager informed her that she lived in a 4 bedroom house; she paid less utility than I was being told to pay for staying in the apartment for 5 days. So we don’t believe them.  For the rent. They wanted to charge me for half a month of rent.  Five days for stay there and a week of my things being there while I was in the field. 

We informed them that we were not paying and for the same list of reason we gave them yesterday. They broke the contract.  The left with the bill

So this was my week two weeks ago.

Yes I am in my new apartment and the landlord, I couldn’t have asked for a better one. Very understanding and he gives me fruits. You know how I like to eat.  J

For those of you who know my experiences from Zimbabwe, you can now say that I do not have good experiences with renting apartments