Two weeks ago, Tasa, an American and a member of my “Law In A Minute” community, sent me a friend request.

Tasa was struggling to retrieve her deposit from a dishonest landlord. She had planned to move into an apartment in Shanghai but chose to leave China due to the lockdowns.

The landlord and the property manager ignored her, thinking they could take advantage of her as a foreigner. They were sorely mistaken.

After Tasa granted me power of attorney, I had one of my associates draft a legal notice immediately, and we sent it out the following day. For confidentiality, I’ve concealed the real names of the landlord and Tasa.

Upon receiving our legal notice, the landlord was dismissive, and his message lost meaning in poor WeChat translation. He rudely told us to go away, questioned if we thought we were the court, mocked our understanding of a deposit, and sarcastically suggested we look it up in a dictionary.

That’s when I escalated to phase two, using the threat of authority. Landlords fear tax audits because they typically don’t declare their rental income and face serious consequences if caught by the tax authorities.

Apologies for the rough translation, but essentially, I warned the landlord that tax evasion is a crime, and he should look up the potential prison sentence for such an offense.

Tasa’s deposit was promptly returned. The takeaway here is clear: when facing unethical individuals, sometimes you need to leverage the weight of legal authority.