Epidemic property fee reduction policy

During the epidemic period, if the owner and the property service provider reach an agreement through consultation, they may request to reduce or exempt the property fee. If the negotiation fails, the property fee cannot be reduced or exempted. Owners and property service providers need to perform their obligations in accordance with the provisions of the property contract, and the reduction of property fees belongs to the change of the property contract, which requires both parties to reach an agreement through consultation.

The legal basis for rent reduction during the epidemic period is the General Principles of the Civil Law and Article 1 17 of the Contract Law. According to the General Principles of Civil Law, force majeure refers to "unforeseeable, unavoidable and insurmountable objective circumstances". The large-scale outbreak of the epidemic in novel coronavirus directly led the government departments to issue administrative actions such as closing the city, implementing traffic control and extending holidays. These administrative actions are completely unpredictable and fully conform to the three main characteristics of force majeure: unforeseeable, inevitable and insurmountable.

The lessor can be exempted from liability based on the force majeure clause, but the lessee can claim to reduce the rent during the suspension period based on the principle of fairness.

Referring to the lease contract dispute cases during the SARS period, many courts supported the request of rent-free during the suspension of SARS. The basic idea of dealing with the judicial judgment of contract disputes caused by sudden epidemic situation: those that can be fulfilled shall be adjusted according to the principle of fairness, and those that cannot be fulfilled shall be mitigated or exempted according to force majeure.

Legal basis:

People's Republic of China (PRC) Civil Code

Article 543 The parties may modify the contract through consultation.

Article 544 Where the parties have not expressly agreed on the contents of the contract modification, it is presumed that the contract has not been modified.

Article 944 The owner shall pay the property fee to the property service provider as agreed. If the property service provider has provided services in accordance with the agreement and relevant regulations, the owner shall not refuse to pay the property fee on the grounds that he has not accepted or does not need to accept the relevant property services.

If the owner fails to pay the property fee within the time limit in violation of the agreement, the property service provider may urge him to pay it within a reasonable period of time; If the payment is not made within a reasonable period, the property service provider may bring a lawsuit or apply for arbitration.

The property service provider shall not stop power supply, water supply, heat supply and gas supply to demand payment of property fees.