介绍:
近日，著名长租公寓运营商蛋壳公寓暴雷，引发房东和租客冲突，使得很多年轻人突然陷入了居无定所的窘境。蛋壳的经营模式有什么缺陷？导致其暴雷的因素还有哪些？一起来听今天的讲解。
英文原文
A Chinese WeWork for Apartments Is in Distress, Leaving Renters Out in the Cold
中国长租公寓运营商深陷困局，置租客于寒风中而不顾
By Chong Koh Ping and Jing Yang
Financial troubles at a WeWork-like Chinese apartment provider are causing problems for hundreds of thousands of renters, forcing local governments in China and a bank backed by Tencent Holdings Ltd. to step in.
中国一家类似于WeWork的公寓运营商陷入了财务困局，令成千上万的租客陷入窘境，使得中国地方政府和一家由腾讯控股有限公司投资的银行介入其中。
Danke, known as an apartment operator, signed multiyear leases with many landlords in major Chinese cities and subleased spaces to renters, often after partitioning, decorating and furnishing units.
这家公寓运营商名为蛋壳。它与中国各大城市的众多房东签订多年租约，并通常在隔断、装修、添置家具之后，将这些房屋转租给租客。
Danke also relied heavily on an unusual financing model. Most tenants of the more than 419,000 apartments it manages took out rental loans from online lenders. The lump sums these individuals borrowed—typically for a year’s rent—went to Danke, which paid some of it to landlords monthly or quarterly, and used the rest to help fund apartment renovations, maintenance services and its operations. Renters paid down the loans in monthly installments to lenders.
蛋壳公寓还严重依赖一种非常规的融资模式。该公司管理的公寓数量超过41.9万套，其大部分租客都使用网络贷款支付租金。通常，人们会借贷一年的租金，而所有租客贷得的总款项都由蛋壳管理。该公司会把其中的一部分按月或按季支付给房东，其余部分用于公寓装修、维护和自身运营；同时，租客则按月向贷款机构分期还款。
At the end of 2019, Danke had the equivalent of $420 million in short-term liabilities from “rent financing,” making up a little more than half its total borrowings.
2019年年底，蛋壳公寓来自“租金贷”的短期负债规模相当于4.2亿美元，这在该公司的总债务中占比略高于一半。
Earlier this year, coronavirus lockdowns across China prevented many people from returning to cities where they worked. With less rental demand, Danke negotiated with landlords to terminate their leases early, resulting in losses for Danke.
今年早些时候，中国各地进入了疫情封锁，导致许多人无法返回之前工作的城市。由于租赁需求下降，蛋壳公寓与一些房东协商，提前结束了租约，这给蛋壳公寓造成了损失。
Danke’s problems have since snowballed. Scores of renters who have continued to make monthly payments now face eviction from their apartments after Danke’s liquidity problems worsened and the company fell behind on payments to apartment owners in recent months. Some landlords have cut off tenants’ electricity, water supply and internet connections, according to local government notices and renters’ complaints online.
自此之后，蛋壳公寓的问题接踵而至。近几个月，由于流动资金问题恶化，蛋壳公寓开始拖欠房东租金。这使得众多租客面临着被扫地出门的问题，尽管他们仍在按月支付房租。从本地政府通知以及租客们在网上的抱怨中可以看出，有些房东已经切断了租客的水电和网络。
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