Landlord skipped mediation? A NT$500 payment order makes them pay

02Step 1: write the application, attach evidence, pay NT$500

1. Competent court: the district court where the landlord lives (Article 510).
2. The Judicial Yuan website has a sample payment-order application (支付命令聲請狀) to download and fill in.
3. What you claim: the deposit of NT$○○, plus 5% annual interest from the day after the demand letter arrived, and the costs of the procedure.
4. The facts: lease period, deposit amount, move-out and handover date, demand made and ignored.
5. Attachments: the lease, deposit receipt or transfer record, the demand letter and return card, and the certificate of failed mediation if you have one.
6. Pay NT$500 at the court's cashier, or file online through the Judicial Yuan's e-filing service.

• Judicial Yuan: sample pleadings, online filing — Search for 支付命令聲請狀
• Legal Aid Foundation (412-8518) — Help with drafting; every district court also has a litigation guidance desk

03Step 2: no objection in 20 days and the order is final

After service, the landlord has 20 days to object (Article 516), with no reason required. If the 20 days pass without an objection, the payment order becomes final and serves as an enforcement title under Article 521. The court issues you a certificate of finality.

04Step 3: the landlord objects, and it turns into a lawsuit automatically

If the landlord objects within 20 days, the order lapses and the case automatically becomes an ordinary action, with your application treated as the complaint. A deposit is usually under NT$100,000, so the small-claims procedure applies under Article 436-8, and the court fee under Article 77-13 is NT$1,000 (you top up the NT$500 already paid).

1. Small claims need no lawyer, usually take one hearing, and can be scheduled in the evening or on a weekend.
2. Bring the same evidence as on mediation day: lease, receipt, photos, demand letter, chat records.
3. Appeals against a small-claims judgment are restricted, so it becomes final quickly.

05Step 4: enforce and actually get the money

1. Take the final payment order (or judgment, or approved mediation agreement) with the certificate of finality to the court's civil enforcement division and file an enforcement application. The fee is 0.8% of the claim (free for claims up to NT$5,000).
2. What can be seized: the landlord's bank deposits, the rent they collect (by garnishment order to other tenants), salary (up to one third), vehicles, shares.
3. If you do not know what they own, take the enforcement title to the National Taxation Bureau and pull their asset and income lists (Part 3 of the no-money series has the full steps).

06The rest of the deposit series

This guide is one of five in the deposit series. Every part has a reel on Instagram @lawbao.tw; comment the keyword under a reel and the full guide for that part lands in your DMs.

• Part 1 | Landlord keeping your deposit? One legal move gets it back — Instagram reel
• Part 2 | How to write a demand letter that works — Comment "信函" on the reel to get this link
• Part 3 | Which deposit deductions are legal — Comment "耗損" on the reel to get this link
• Part 4 | What happens on mediation day — Comment "調解" on the reel to get this link
• Part 5 | A NT$500 payment order makes them pay (this one) — Comment "命令" on the reel to get this link

07Things to watch

1. The 20-day objection period runs from the day the landlord receives the order, not from the day you file.
2. After the order is final, a landlord can in theory still bring a retrial or a debtor's objection action within set periods, but that is rare in deposit cases.
3. Interest runs from the day after the demand letter arrived, at 5% per year (Civil Code Article 203).
4. The NT$100,000 small-claims limit is the amount claimed; between NT$100,000 and NT$500,000 the summary procedure applies, which is also manageable without a lawyer.