A local court has ordered a mother to pay NT$570,000 for the depreciated value of a leased apartment after her daughter hanged herself there, because the suicide allegedly turned the apartment into an inauspicious abode (xiong zhai).
The Taoyuan District Court says that the daughter, a 22-year-old woman surnamed Huang, was found hanging in a rented apartment in Taoyuan County’s Pingjhen City on April 18 last year. It was not until May 21 that the landlord, who bought the apartment 18 years ago for NT$3.35 million (US$112,000), was notified about the suicide. The landlord was unwilling to live in the apartment or lease it out any longer, and sold it for NT$1.22 million to someone who specializes in purchasing haunted houses.
The landlord felt that Huang’s mother failed to fulfill her parental duties and pressed charges to receive restitution for the difference in the amount that the house subsequently sold for.
Photo: Lin Liang-che, Liberty Times
照片:自由時報記者林良哲
The mother moved into the apartment with her daughter in December of 2007 and payed NT$7,700 in rent every month. When Huang’s mother appeared in court, she said she was a single mother who raised three children by herself. Before the suicide, her daughter went to work and came home as usual and nothing was out of the ordinary, she says, adding that there were absolutely no signs telling her to intervene. Her daughter did not leave a suicide note and the mother still has no idea why she killed herself.
The mother says that her daughter did not actually damage the apartment when she killed herself. Taoist and Christian groups were also invited to the apartment to chant scriptures and pray to reduce the “uncomfortable” feeling in the house, the mother says. However, the landlord was in a hurry to sell the house just less than a month after the suicide and did not do a good job at bargaining the deal, which is why the house only sold for NT$1.22 million, she says, adding that the difference in value cannot be blamed on her. Initially, she actually had wanted to continue renting the apartment, but the landlord refused her. If the landlord had allowed her to continue renting the apartment for a couple more years the sale price might not be so low, Huang’s mother says.
The district court judge said that because her daughter committed suicide in the house, the subjective value of the house fell, which is in reality just as important as physical damage to the house. Individuals have different beliefs and ways of thinking, which the judge said means chanting scripture is not enough to return things to normal. According to Article 433 of the Civil Code, the landlord can seek compensation from the lessee for any damage to the leased property. After also taking into consideration the conditions for selling the house, the final verdict ruled that she must compensate the landlord NT$570,000.
(Liberty Times, Translated by Kyle Jeffcoat)
Photo: Chang Tsun-wei, Liberty Times
照片:自由時報記者張存薇
女兒上吊自殺死亡,害得租屋處成了凶宅,因母親是承租人,被法院判賠房東五十七萬元賣屋「價差」。
桃園地院判決指出,二十二歲黃姓女子去年四月十八日被發現在桃園縣平鎮市租屋處上吊身亡,房東直到五月二十一日經人告知,才知道十八年前花三百三十五萬元買的房子成了凶宅,不敢自住,也不想再租人,後來以一百二十二萬元低價轉賣給專購凶宅的買家。
房東認為,黃母沒有善盡管理義務,提告要求她賠償中間損失的價差。
黃母從九十八年十二月起,以每月七千七百元租屋並與女兒同住,她出庭時說,她是單親媽媽、獨力撫養三個孩子,女兒自殺前,一如往常上下班,看不出有任何異樣,她根本無法預知,又如何阻止?且女兒連遺書也沒留下,至今仍不知她為何自殺。
黃母說,女兒自殺並沒有實際毀損房屋,曾請道教、基督教團體誦經、禮拜,把「不舒服」的感覺降低,但房東在案發不到一個月就急著賣屋,議價能力也不夠,才導致房子只賣一百二十二萬元,不能把損失的「價差」都怪在她身上,當初希望續租,卻被房東拒絕,如果再讓她住個兩年,或許價格不會這麼低。
桃園地院法官認為,房子因黃女自殺,產生抽象價值的減損,不亞於實際的房屋毀損,每個人的信仰、想法不同,亦非誦經禮拜就足以「恢復」,根據民法四百三十三條規定承租人之代負責任,房東可向承租人求償損失,另考量房東實際售屋情況,判決黃母須賠償五十七萬元價差。
(自由時報記者鄭淑婷)
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