Landlord fears terminally ill cancer patient would make his home ‘ghost house’, gives eviction notice

A landlord has come under severe criticism in Beijing for the insensitive action of handing an eviction notice to a tenant who is going through late-stage cancer.

The step was taken by the landlord because he was worried about losing the value of the property if the tenant died of illness.

As reported by Red Star News, the tenant had rented the flat because it had a convenient location near a hospital.

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However, the landlord has claimed that he had rented the flat below market value at 5,500 yuan (about US$770) per month because he was looking to sell the property actively.

According to the lease agreement, the owner had asked the tenant and her husband to allow potential buyers to take a look around the house. However, the couple were supposed to stay in the house till mid-November, as per the contract.

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On September 4, the landlord gave a formal notice to the couple and asked them to vacate the house within a week.

The landlord said that he asked the couple to evict the house after seeing the baldness of the woman and enquiring about her health.

Hearing about cancer, the landlord feared that in case of the tenant's death, the value of the property would go down and the flat would be perceived as a “haunted house”.

Landlord asks tenants to compensate for fall in market value of house

The landlord, along with the eviction notice, appealed to the tenants to sign an agreement which stated that the latter would compensate him in case the market value of the house went down because of their occupancy. However, the couple refused to sign the agreement and said that they would not vacate the house till the landlord provided compensation for terminating the lease.

The incident was shared on social media and received comments from various people, some of whom criticised the landlord.

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“It is too much for the landlord to behave like this. He is inhumane!” said a user.

“I understand the landlord’s frustration. Selling a property plagued by issues is challenging, but he should provide compensation for breaching the leasing contract," commented another.

(With inputs from agencies)