Renewal Of Contract Requires Payment Of Entry Fee. More Than 300 Merchants In Shenzhen Huaqiang North Women'S World "Strike"

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The shop on the fifth floor of Women's World closes

"Entry fee" is required for renewal

More than 300 merchants in Huaqiang North Women's World closed down. The management office of "strike" called it "advance rent collection"

The renewal of the contract also requires the "entrance fee" of two months' rent? This regulation made more than 300 shop tenants in Huaqiang North Women's World feel dissatisfied with the renewal of their contracts. Most merchants think that this condition is unreasonable, and they shut down their businesses one after another, asking the management office to give a reasonable explanation.

Old tenants also have to pay "entrance fees"

Yesterday afternoon, the reporter rushed to the Women's World and saw that 89% of the shops on the fourth floor and fifth floor were closed and closed. The tenants gathered at the door of the management office of the Women's World and hoped that the management office could give an explanation. One on the fourth floor clothing 's merchant told the reporter that she has worked here for 12 years. "It is understandable that the new comers pay the entrance fee, but we are all old tenants for many years. Now we have to pay the 'entrance fee' when we renew the contract?"

It is understood that the shops required to pay the entrance fee before renewing the contract are concentrated on the third to fifth floors of Women's World, involving more than 300 households in total. Each tenant must pay the entrance fee of two months' rent to the management office according to the area of their shop before renewing the contract. The amount varies from 7000 to 100000 yuan. "On July 27, we received a written notice from the management office that the lease expired on August 17. In addition, they informed us one by one by telephone and verbally that they must pay the entrance fee of two months' rent before August 2, otherwise it would be regarded as giving up the renewal of the contract."

A tenant who has been operating in Women's World since 2004 told the reporter that they had paid the "entrance fee" when they just entered the site, which was not very high. When the contract was renewed in 2008, due to the financial crisis, in order to retain the tenant, the management office did not ask for the entrance fee at that time. "Previously, we signed the contract every four years. In 2010, we changed it to every two years. If we had to pay this time, would we have to pay the next renewal? If we had to pay the rent every two years, we would have to pay a month's rent every year. This is unreasonable."

The management office has no comment on how to spend the "entrance fee" for the time being. "In the past few years, the women's world has never been renovated, and even the elevators are often stopped. Now, a merchant usually runs its own business and earns about 4000 yuan a month. The business is getting worse, and the shop has not been renovated, so we can't stand the entrance fees." said the tenant.

A tenant of a shop on the fourth floor also told the reporter that he had just bought more than 100000 goods. Because of the short notice time, it was too late to dump the goods and clear the warehouse in a hurry. "Previously, when we renewed the contract, we told us two months in advance. Now we have only a few days to prepare. How can we sell the goods so quickly? Isn't it an obvious forced purchase and forced sale?"

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The management office calls it advance rent

Is there any basis for the management office to collect mobilization fees? The reporter came to the management office of the mall on the sixth floor, but several staff wearing black T-shirts blocked the reporter out, saying that the head office was negotiating with the store representatives and could not be interviewed.

The reporter called a manager surnamed Zhu from Huaqiang North Women's World Management Office, She told the reporter: "This is a misunderstanding of the merchant. We do not charge entrance fees, but rent in advance. This money will be returned to the merchant in the form of discount every month. The specific amount of return will be determined according to different floors and different regions. When the merchant renews the contract with us, we will explicitly stipulate this in the form of a contract."

However, several tenants confirmed to the reporter that the management office emphasized the "entrance fee" on the phone. In addition, some tenants said that since there was no explicit provision on how to return the rent collected in advance for the time being, it was reasonable for the tenants to pay first?

As for the basis for charging, Manager Zhu said that the state did not explicitly prohibit this practice, and from the legal point of view, the management office did not violate laws and regulations. The starting point for the enterprise to make this decision is to maintain the stability of the mall, because there are some turbulence in the mall at present.

Why did you notify the owner to renew the contract at such a tight time? Manager Zhu said that he did not deliberately delay because the company did not agree with merchants how long to notify them in advance. It is normal to give 20 days' notice in advance. As for the current merchants' protest, Manager Zhu said that he would modify some conditions, and the specific results would be released within this week. It is also understood that the neighborhood office has come forward to coordinate this matter that afternoon.

Liu Huabin, a lawyer from Beijing Kyoto (Shenzhen) Law Firm, believes that the practice of the management office has no legal basis, and this phenomenon must be against the law. "The charge must have a legal basis or a contractual basis, otherwise it is extortion." He suggested that the owner could solve the problem through legal means after collecting relevant evidence.