Renting in Taiwan without a guarantor: what to check

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Do you need a guarantor to rent in Taiwan? How it differs from Japan
When do landlords ask for a guarantor?
What can you offer when you can't find a guarantor?
Clause by clause before signing: what should the lease contain?
Which clauses may not appear in a lease?
What if the lease is only in Chinese?
Who do you turn to in a rental dispute?
How do co-living houses usually handle guarantors and leases?
Frequently asked questions
Sources

Taiwan's rules do not require you to find a guarantor before renting a home. In the residential lease rules published by the Ministry of the Interior, the guarantor is a field you fill in only if there is one. Most leases rely on the deposit as security, and the deposit can be at most 2 months' rent. Whether a landlord wants a guarantor is a condition you can negotiate.

If you can't read a Chinese lease, you don't have to sign on the spot either. You can take the lease home for at least 3 days, and the Taipei City Department of Land Administration publishes an official English translation of the standard contract that you can hold up against the Chinese lease in your hand.

Before signing, work through these steps in order.

Ask whether a guarantor is needed. If so, ask whether another form of security would do.
Take the lease home to read. Don't sign on the spot.
Compare it with the official English template, clause by clause: deposit, lease period, early termination, fees, repairs.
Look for clauses that should not be there, such as a ban on registering your household or on declaring the rent for tax.
On signing day, check the landlord's identity and proof of the right to lease the home. Pay the deposit only when you sign.
Keep an original copy of the lease yourself.

For an overview of agent fees, ARC address registration and similar topics, see Common sticking points for foreigners renting in Taipei: agent's fees, deposits, lease language, ARC address registration, and how Seal Co-living handles them. This article goes deeper on guarantors and on reading the lease one clause at a time.

Do you need a guarantor to rent in Taiwan? How it differs from Japan

In Japan, renting normally means naming a joint guarantor or paying a rent guarantee company, and without either you will usually fail the tenant screening. Taiwan has no such screening custom, and guarantee companies for rentals are not common.

Renting in Taiwan is governed by the Rental Housing Market Development and Regulation Act (the "Rental Housing Act" below) and by the Mandatory Provisions to be Included in and Prohibitory Provisions of the Standard Form Rental Housing Contract (the "Mandatory Provisions" below), which the Ministry of the Interior publishes under the Consumer Protection Act. Neither document requires a tenant to find a guarantor. The Mandatory Provisions mention a guarantor only in point 21, which deals with the effect of a notarized lease "where there is a guarantor". The ministry's contract template has a guarantor block in the signature section, filled in only when there is one.

What a guarantee means in law is set out in Article 739 of the Civil Code: when the debtor fails to perform, the guarantor is liable to perform in the debtor's place. Applied to renting, if you fall behind on rent or can't pay for something you damaged, the landlord can claim from the guarantor.

When do landlords ask for a guarantor?

The rules don't list situations that call for a guarantor, so it is entirely up to the landlord. It tends to come up when a landlord feels the deposit alone is not enough reassurance: the tenant is still a student, has just arrived in Taiwan and can't yet show proof of work or income, or might leave Taiwan at any time.

When you are asked, first find out which kind the landlord means. Some only want an emergency contact in Taiwan who carries no liability for your debts. Others want a guarantor who signs the lease. The gap between those is wide, so get a clear answer before anyone signs.

If a friend is willing to act as guarantor, ask them to look for wording such as 連帶保證 (joint and several guarantee) or 拋棄先訴抗辯權 (waiver of the defense of prior claim against the debtor) in the lease. Under Article 745 of the Civil Code, a guarantor may normally refuse to pay until the landlord has tried compulsory enforcement against the tenant's property without result. Article 746 lets the guarantor waive that right. After a waiver, the landlord can go straight to the guarantor for the money. Your friend should know this before signing.

What can you offer when you can't find a guarantor?

Having nobody to act as guarantor is normal when you have just arrived in Taiwan. Here is what you can put to the landlord.

The deposit is already a form of security, and Article 7 of the Rental Housing Act says it may not exceed the total of 2 months' rent. If the landlord normally takes only 1 month, you can offer to pay more within the cap. A demand above the cap breaks the rule, and you don't have to agree.
You can also offer to pay several months' rent at a time. Point 4 of the Mandatory Provisions has a blank for how many months' rent is paid per period, and the two sides agree on it. The more you prepay, the more of your money is tied up if a dispute arises, so get a receipt for what you pay.
Notarization is another route. Point 21 of the Mandatory Provisions lets the two sides decide whether to notarize the lease, and the notarial deed can state that unpaid rent, failure to move out at the end of the lease, or failure to refund the deposit is subject to direct compulsory enforcement. For a landlord that is real protection.
Documents such as proof of enrollment, proof of employment or an ARC (Alien Resident Certificate) show the landlord how long you will be in Taiwan and what you are doing here.
If talks really go nowhere, change the type of housing. Some operator-run housing does not ask for a guarantor, and a quick question before signing will tell you.

Clause by clause before signing: what should the lease contain?

Article 5 of the current Rental Housing Act (amended 8 February 2023) treats the relationship between landlord and tenant as a consumer relationship, so the Consumer Protection Act applies. The lease has to follow the Mandatory Provisions, whose current version was amended on 18 April 2025. Under Article 17 of the Consumer Protection Act, a clause that goes against the published provisions is void, and a provision the ministry says must be included counts as part of the contract even when the lease leaves it out. If the lease is silent, you can still claim the rights below.

These protections come with a precondition. The lease period has to be 30 days or longer, and the rental must not be for leisure or tourism (Article 4 of the Rental Housing Act).

Item	Rule	Source
Review period	At least 3 days, and you cannot be asked to waive it	Mandatory Provisions, point 1
Deposit	Up to 2 months' rent, paid at the same time as signing	Rental Housing Act, Article 7; Mandatory Provisions, point 5
Lease period	At least 30 days, with start and end dates written in	Mandatory Provisions, point 3
Early termination	Where the lease allows termination at will, give at least 1 month's notice; the penalty for ending without notice is capped at 1 month's rent	Mandatory Provisions, point 14
Electricity	When billed by the unit (kWh), the price per unit may not exceed the average unit price for the period on the electricity bill	Mandatory Provisions, point 6
Repairs	The landlord's responsibility in principle	Rental Housing Act, Article 8; Mandatory Provisions, point 9

Review period and identity checks

Point 1 of the lease is the review period: it records the date you took the lease home and how many days you had to read it. A landlord who says "sign today or I'll rent it to someone else" still cannot make you give up the review.

At signing, each side shows the other an identity document to check, and the landlord also has to show proof of the right to lease the home (Mandatory Provisions, points 11 and 12). If the landlord is renting from the owner and subletting, the owner's written consent is required, and it must be handed to you when the sublease is signed (Article 9 of the Rental Housing Act).

Deposit

The cap is covered above. The deposit is due "at the same time as signing this contract" (Mandatory Provisions, point 5), so asking you to transfer it before any lease is signed breaks the rule.

The refund rule is in Article 7 of the Rental Housing Act. Once the lease has ended, you have handed the home back and the debts arising from the lease are settled, the landlord must return the deposit, or whatever is left after offsetting those debts. At move-out, both sides inspect the condition of the home and its fixtures together (Article 12 of the Rental Housing Act). Photos of the room and furniture taken on move-in day are what help most when you leave.

Lease period and leaving early

The lease must state its start and end dates (Mandatory Provisions, point 3). The rules do not require a 1-year lease, which is a habit many landlords have. If you want something shorter, you have to raise it and negotiate.

Leaving early causes more arguments than anything else, so find point 14 in the lease. It is a tick box: before the lease expires, the two sides either "may" or "may not" terminate at will.

If "may" is ticked, the side that wants to end early has to notify the other at least 1 month before the end date. Ending without that notice means a penalty of no more than 1 month's rent, and the landlord has to refund any rent collected in advance.

If "may not" is ticked, the only way out early is on statutory grounds. Article 11 of the Rental Housing Act lists the ones open to tenants: illness or an accident that requires long-term treatment; a home that is unfit to live in and that the landlord still fails to repair after a formal demand; part of the home being destroyed through no fault of yours, leaving the rest hard to live in; or a third party asserting rights so that you cannot live there as agreed. Point 18 of the Mandatory Provisions also lists a defect in the home that endangers the safety or health of you or the people living with you. In these cases you notify the landlord in writing, with evidence, 30 days before termination, and the landlord may not claim any compensation. Where such a defect makes the situation urgent, advance notice is not required.

Going home, changing schools and changing jobs are not statutory grounds. If your plans are still open, check which box is ticked in point 14 before you sign, or look for housing with a short lease period from the start.

Fees and electricity

Management fee, water, electricity, gas and internet each have their own box stating who pays (Mandatory Provisions, point 6). If any is left blank, ask the landlord to fill it in before you sign.

Electricity has a ceiling. When it is billed by the unit, the price per unit may not exceed the "average unit price for the period" on that home's electricity bill. When it is not billed by the unit, the total the landlord collects each period may not exceed the total on the bill for that period. House tax and land value tax are the landlord's to pay (point 7).

Repairs

When the home or its fixtures break, the landlord repairs them in principle, unless the two sides agreed otherwise, custom says otherwise, or you caused the damage (Mandatory Provisions, point 9). If some items are to be repaired by the tenant, the landlord has to explain them before signing and have you confirm them on the confirmation form in Attachment 3 of the lease. Anything not agreed and confirmed that way stays with the landlord (point 11).

For repairs that are the landlord's job, you can set a reasonable deadline and demand the work. If the deadline passes with nothing done, you can have it repaired yourself and then ask the landlord to reimburse you, or deduct the cost from the rent (Article 8 of the Rental Housing Act). Keep a record of your notice and the receipts.

Which clauses may not appear in a lease?

The second half of the Mandatory Provisions is the list of prohibited clauses. The items below are void even if written into the lease, and finding any of them tells you the lease was not drawn up by the rules.

Waiving the review period.
Advertisements are for reference only.
The tenant may not declare rental expenses, commonly known as "no tax filing".
The tenant may not register a household at the address.
If taxes payable by the landlord rise after the home is let, the tenant pays the increase.
Exempting or limiting the landlord's liability for defects the landlord deliberately concealed.
The tenant must hand the contract back.
Notices under the contract may be given by telephone only.
Anything that violates mandatory or prohibitive legal provisions.
The tenant may not apply for rent subsidies.

Item 7 is especially useful for foreigners. You are entitled to keep the lease, and you will need it for an ARC application or a change of registered address (see ARC (Alien Resident Certificate) application and address change: what to bring and how long you have).

What if the lease is only in Chinese?

Start by using the review period. Once you have the lease at home, here is how to handle it.

Download the official English translation and compare. The Taipei City Department of Land Administration's page on leasing to foreigners (外國人租賃專區) offers an English translation of the Ministry of the Interior's Sample Rental Housing Contract, along with an English translation of the Mandatory Provisions. When we checked on 10 Oct 2026, the page had no Japanese or Korean version. The English template is the version dated 8 July 2024, older than the current Chinese one, so the Chinese text governs on the details.
Look for a business that offers service in foreign languages. The same page has lists of rental housing businesses and real estate brokers that serve customers in foreign languages, plus a map.
Bring someone with you: a friend who reads Chinese, your school's international office or your company's HR.
For clauses you can't read, ask the landlord to write down the meaning in English or in your language. The added explanation does not replace the Chinese text, though it can serve as evidence if a dispute comes up later.

If the landlord supplies an English or Japanese version of the lease, confirm that it matches the Chinese version, and ask which one prevails if they differ.

Still at the searching stage? How to look for a room and contact landlords without Chinese is covered in Finding a room in Taipei without Chinese: how to use 591, what the listing terms mean, and other ways to search.

Who do you turn to in a rental dispute?

Secure the evidence first: the lease, receipts, transfer records, chat screenshots, and photos from move-in and move-out. Then pick the channel that fits. The table shows official information we checked on 10 Oct 2026.

Channel	What it does	How to reach it
Hotline for foreigners living in Taiwan (National Immigration Agency)	Advice on daily life and legal information; Chinese, English and Japanese around the clock, 24 hours	Dial 1990
Telephone legal advice on rental disputes (Legal Aid Foundation, commissioned by the Ministry of the Interior)	A lawyer answers tenants' legal questions about residential leases, 20 minutes per call, Monday to Friday	412-8518, press 2 and then 6; add 02 from a mobile phone
Tsuei Ma Ma Foundation (commissioned by the Ministry of the Interior)	Contract review, legal advice on renting, mediation and negotiation of disputes; open to landlords and tenants	(02)2365-8140
Consumer dispute complaint	Complain to the business or to a consumer service center; the business must deal with it within 15 days of the complaint	Dial 1950, or use the Consumer Protection Committee website
District office mediation	Once approved by the court, a mediation has the same effect as a final civil judgment	The mediation committee of each township or district office
Rental dispute mediation (調處) by city and county governments	Residential lease disputes can be brought to the municipal, city or county government, with no fee	The land administration department of each city or county

The basis for 調處 is Article 16 of the Rental Housing Act. In Taipei the Real Estate Dispute Mediation Committee handles it; according to the Taipei City Department of Land Administration, if you do not accept the outcome you must file suit in court within 15 days of receiving the notice. The basis for consumer dispute complaints is Article 43 of the Consumer Protection Act.

The Legal Aid Foundation's page on the telephone service does not mention foreign languages, so it is safer to call together with a friend who speaks Chinese. If you need a lawyer to act for you, Article 14 of the Legal Aid Act extends aid to foreigners who are lawfully residing in Taiwan, subject to a means test and other checks.

How do co-living houses usually handle guarantors and leases?

Co-living is mostly run by operators, each resident signs a separate lease, and the lease period and deposit can usually be found on the operator's website. If the operator rents from the owner and sublets, a separate set of ministry rules applies, the Mandatory Provisions to be Included in and Prohibitory Provisions of the Standard Form Residential Subleasing Contract. Check it clause by clause in the same way before you sign. In addition, the operator needs the owner's written consent to sublet.

Here is what Seal Co-living can tell you for certain: the minimum lease is 30 days, and we sign residential leases only; the deposit is 1 month of rent. Whether a guarantor is needed, whether the lease comes in other languages and how leaving early is calculated are questions to ask us at the viewing. Send 「看房」 (Chinese for "viewing") or "viewing" to our official LINE account (add us as a friend on LINE), or fill in the online booking form. Room types and prices are on the house list.

For more to ask at a viewing, Choosing a Share House in Taipei: 10 Things to Check Before You Move In has a list. If you are on a working holiday, Finding a place on a Taiwan working holiday: before you fly, your first home and avoiding deposit scams is the next read.

Frequently asked questions

The landlord insists on a guarantor. Can I refuse?

You can decline to sign, though nothing in the rules stops a landlord from setting this condition. Ask first whether a deposit within the cap, notarization, or proof of enrollment or employment would do instead. If you can't agree, look at another place.

Can a landlord take a deposit of 3 months?

No. For a residential lease of 30 days or more that is not for leisure or tourism, the deposit may not exceed the total of 2 months' rent (Articles 4 and 7 of the Rental Housing Act).

The lease says I may not register my household or declare the rent for tax. Is that valid?

It is void. Both are on the list of prohibited clauses. If you come across a lease like this, ask the advice services above how to deal with it.

How much do I owe if I move out before the lease ends?

Look at point 14 of the lease. Where termination at will is allowed, give the other side at least 1 month's notice; ending without notice carries a penalty capped at 1 month's rent. Where it is not allowed, you will have to negotiate with the landlord unless statutory grounds apply.

Sources

1.Laws & Regulations Database: Rental Housing Market Development and Regulation Act (amended 2023-02-08)law.moj.gov.tw/LawClass/LawAll.aspx?pcode=D0060125
2.Ministry of the Interior: Mandatory Provisions to be Included in and Prohibitory Provisions of the Standard Form Rental Housing Contract (amended 2025-04-18)glrs.moi.gov.tw/LawContent.aspx?id=GL000907
3.Laws & Regulations Database: Civil Codelaw.moj.gov.tw/LawClass/LawAll.aspx?pcode=B0000001
4.Laws & Regulations Database: Consumer Protection Actlaw.moj.gov.tw/LawClass/LawAll.aspx?pcode=J0170001
5.Laws & Regulations Database: Legal Aid Actlaw.moj.gov.tw/LawClass/LawAll.aspx?pcode=A0030157
6.Laws & Regulations Database: Township and County-Administered City Mediation Actlaw.moj.gov.tw/LawClass/LawAll.aspx?pcode=I0020003
7.Taipei City Department of Land Administration: page on leasing to foreigners (外國人租賃專區)land.gov.taipei/Content_List.aspx?n=114D93EAC411B194
8.Taipei City Department of Land Administration: dispute channels and their legal effect (處理管道及法律效力)land.gov.taipei/cp.aspx?n=1CEA56F31D774170
9.National Immigration Agency: list of enquiry services (hotline for foreigners living in Taiwan)immigration.gov.tw/5385/5388/7181/100924/
10.Legal Aid Foundation: residential lease dispute handling and advice project (commissioned by the Ministry of the Interior)laf.org.tw/service-project-detail/22
11.Ministry of the Interior, Department of Land Administration: Rental Housing Act page (rental housing advice service commissioned to the Tsuei Ma Ma Foundation)land.moi.gov.tw/chhtml/content/89?mcid=4177
12.Executive Yuan: press release on national consumer complaint and mediation statistics (consumer service hotline and online complaints)ey.gov.tw/Page/F7408A6FCA4B0A8A/788b28a3-dbbc-4e7d-be8f-0e213152c4cd

Renting in Taiwan without a guarantor: how to read a Chinese lease clause by clause