Brief introduction of the case
Seventy owners, including Liu from Qingshan District, Wuhan, rented their houses to a hotel in Wuhan as guest rooms, and agreed that each person would contribute 20,000 yuan to be renovated by a hotel according to unified standards. A hotel pays 65,438+0 980 yuan to each household every month, and pays the quarterly rent on the 5th of the first month of each quarter. A hotel not only failed to pay the second quarter rent as scheduled, but also issued an announcement to 70 owners. The hotel did not operate normally in the second quarter, and the owner was asked to waive the hotel rent for four months. If the owner did not agree, he would withdraw the rent. 70 owners disagreed with the request of a hotel, and a dispute occurred between the two parties, so they applied to the People's Mediation Committee of a street in Qingshan District, Wuhan for mediation.
Mediation process
Due to the large number of people involved in the dispute and the difficulty of mediation, in order to solve the dispute as soon as possible, the Mediation Committee appointed experienced full-time mediators to mediate, and invited the director of a street judicial office, the director of the street office, the head of the district market supervision bureau and community lawyers to participate in mediation. Mediators first guide 70 owners to negotiate internally, and entrust owners' representatives Liu, Zhang and Fu to participate in mediation in the form of written authorization, so as to centralize the demands of many people into a unified opinion and improve the efficiency of mediation.
Seventy owners' representatives, including Liu, Zhang and Fu, and Wang, the person in charge of a hotel, participated in the mediation. Wang said that the hotel was not profitable from June to April. If you pay the rent of 70 owners in the second quarter, the hotel capital flow will be cut off, and even the enterprise will go bankrupt. If the owner can't reduce the rent for the hotel for four months, it is difficult to continue the lease contract, and the hotel is willing to bear the liability for breach of contract.
According to the owner's representative, a hotel directly issued a notice asking the owner to reduce the rent without consultation between the two parties, and the owner would directly terminate the contract if he did not agree. This tough approach is unacceptable. Moreover, most of the houses of 70 owners are purchased by loans and need funds to repay the loan. The hotel should pay rent to the owner.
The mediator explained the relevant provisions of the People's Republic of China (PRC) Contract Law against the background of epidemic control, helping the two sides to analyze the advantages and disadvantages, and hoped that the two sides would make mutual understanding and accommodation and resolve the dispute through consultation. The mediator told Wang that if the rent is reduced for four months, it means that the losses caused by the epidemic will be borne by the lessor, which is unfair to the lessor. Although the performance of the contract is affected by epidemic prevention and control, it should be continued as long as conditions permit. The mediator also persuaded the owner's representative that maintaining the contractual relationship and continuing to perform the contract is the best choice to solve this dispute, and the hotel's continued operation is also the result that everyone hopes to see.
Seeing that the two sides were still deadlocked on the rent issue, the mediator quickly changed his mind and persuaded a hotel whether it could reduce the loss of the owner by other means. A hotel said that it can give each owner a hotel voucher of 1 0,000 yuan, which can be equivalent to cash consumption in the hotel. The owner's representative agreed and expressed his willingness to reduce the rent for three months.
The mediation intentions of the two sides have basically reached an agreement. At this time, a hotel suddenly suggested that it would take a long time to recover due to the impact on the hotel, and hoped that the owner could reduce the rent by half for half a year on the basis of three months. The owner's representative was in an uproar, angry that the intention just reached didn't count, and the scene was difficult to control for a while. The mediator quickly pulled the person in charge of the hotel aside, saying that everyone understood the operational difficulties of the hotel, and it was a great concession that the owner was willing to reduce the rent for three months. The loss of the hotel cannot be completely borne by the owner. It is suggested that the hotel should extend the lease period to ensure the owner's rental income. Wang agreed with this. After hearing this, the owner's representative thought that if the lease period could be extended, the hotel's six-month rent could be halved, and then he agreed to this mediation plan. At this point, the two sides reached an agreement.
Mediation result
Both parties voluntarily reached the following mediation agreement:
1. The contract time will be automatically extended for one year, so as to ensure a longer lease income period for the owner;
2. The landlord will waive the rent of a hotel for 3 months, and a hotel will give each landlord a voucher of 1 0,000 yuan, which the landlord can use to spend in the hotel;
3. On the basis of waiving the three-month rent of a hotel, the owner will postpone the six-month rent by half;
4. Other terms of the contract shall be subject to the original contract.
Case review
All walks of life in Wuhan have closed down and stopped production, which has seriously affected production and business activities. As an indispensable part of housing lease in commercial activities, there are many disputes between lessor and lessee due to rent reduction, lease renewal, contract cancellation and responsibility assumption. This case belongs to renting the living room for commercial operation. Because lessors are natural persons, if all losses are borne by the lessor, it will cause serious losses to the lessor. Mediators do not stick to simple rent reduction, but protect the legitimate rights and interests of both parties by giving away vouchers and extending the income period, and give full play to the important role of people's mediation in economic development.
Recommended reason
The owner leased his property to the hotel for operation, but due to the COVID-19 epidemic, there was a dispute on the performance of the contract. Because the house is not a commercial house, the mediator pays attention to finding the interests of both parties in the process of dealing with the problem, and finally achieves a win-win situation.
Expert evaluation
From the perspective of promoting the continued performance of the contract, according to the impact of the epidemic on the performance of the contract, and in line with the principle of fairness and good faith, the mediator guides both parties to change the terms of the contract in time, properly solves the contradictions and disputes between the two parties through appropriate rent reduction and extension during the epidemic prevention and control period, protects the legitimate rights and interests of the lessor, and helps the enterprise to resume work and production.