Shenzhen Landlord Fined Over Unregistered Visitor as Rental-Housing Checks Tighten

A Shenzhen landlord was fined 500 yuan ($74) after police found that his tenant’s friend was at the rental property without being registered, according to a penalty notice shared online.

The incident has highlighted increasingly stringent checks on people staying in rental housing in the southern Chinese city.

The landlord recently shared the incident on social media, saying the tenant’s friend had only just arrived when authorities conducted a check. The case quickly circulated online, prompting Chinese netizens to describe frequent inspections of rental properties and requirements to register anyone who enters or stays in them.

A copy of a penalty notice dated Aug. 11 and circulated in social media groups shows that the fine was issued by a police station under the Longgang District branch of the Shenzhen Municipal Public Security Bureau.

The notice lists the payment as a fine and identifies the offense as a violation of Article 68, paragraph 1, of China’s revised Public Security Administration Punishments Law.

The incident has raised questions about whether a person who merely visits a tenant or stays temporarily falls within the category of people who must be registered under China’s increasingly extensive rental-housing controls.

Several local individuals spoke to The Epoch Times on condition of anonymity out of fear of reprisal. 

Tightening Checks

A Shenzhen-based restaurant owner told The Epoch Times that inspections of rental properties have become increasingly frequent. Police officers regularly check and register people who are not originally from the area, he said.

In some neighborhoods, residents returning home after midnight may also be required to register, the restaurant owner said.

“In the past, everyone thought that renting a house meant having your own living space,” he said. “Now, it’s getting increasingly strict. Even if a friend comes to stay for a while, you have to consider whether someone will come to check.”

The restaurant owner said that when a friend wants to visit his home, he is expected to notify his landlord and submit the visitor’s information to local authorities.

The revised Public Security Administration Punishments Law, which took effect Jan. 1, allows authorities to fine landlords for renting a property to someone whose identity is unknown or who refuses to provide identity information, or for failing to register a tenant’s name and the type and number of valid identification documents as required. 

The law, however, refers specifically to “tenants” and does not expressly mention visitors.

Whether a friend who temporarily visits or stays at a rental property qualifies as a “tenant” who must be registered is therefore at the center of the dispute.

A Shenzhen-based lawyer, surnamed Wen, told The Epoch Times that the authorities imposing an administrative penalty must first establish that the alleged conduct corresponds to a specific legal provision.

“Article 68 of the Public Security Administration Punishments Law stipulates the landlord’s obligation to register the tenant. If the fact of the violation is merely that the tenant’s friend temporarily visited, then it needs to be explained why this friend is legally someone who must be registered,” Wen said.

“If there is no clear definition, grassroots authorities could keep expanding the scope, and landlords would ultimately have to treat everyone who enters a rental property as someone who needs to be registered. That would be unreasonable.”

‘Stability Maintenance’ Measures

A Guangdong rights advocate surnamed Huang linked the expanding registration system to the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) long-standing emphasis on “maintaining stability” at the grassroots level.

“[The city’s] district governments and subdistrict offices are constantly introducing regulations that disturb people’s lives and restrict citizens’ freedom. There are security guards and surveillance equipment everywhere, and they ask you to register your ID at the slightest thing,” Huang said.

He also pointed to the large number of migrant workers who have recently lost their jobs, saying authorities may be concerned about unemployed workers remaining in cities and seeking accommodation with friends.

The case has left residents with questions over how authorities distinguish between a temporary visitor and someone considered to be residing in a rental property and when that distinction triggers a registration requirement. 

Sun Luo contributed to this report.