Since the pandemic started, we’re now seeing more disputes between tenants and landlords.
Tenants, especially retailers, are going online to claim that landlords are “greedy” during this period, while landlords highlighted that they still have to pay mortgage for the property.
It got so bad that last year, a new code of conduct for tenancy agreement for retail premises was established so that tenants would be treated fairly. The Government is also urged to introduce new laws to ensure that people follow the code of conduct.
Whether you’re #TeamTenants or #TeamLandlord, it’s pretty clear that we don’t see many landlords having coffee with their tenants.
But these are mainly commercial leases; how about leases in the residential property?
Well, there hasn’t been much news about them, but a Malaysian’s story has stood out and gone extremely viral.
M’sian Tenants Got Thrown Out by Landlord in Hougang After Staying for a Day
Unlike commercial rental whereby the landlord most likely is a rich developer (or at the very least, a rather affluent investor), residential property is a tad different: the landlord could just be a person living in an HDB flat, and renting out a room for his or her daily expenses.
In a Facebook post that has since been shared over 10k times, a Malaysian claimed that her landlord kicked her boyfriend and her out on the next day that she moved into a new room at Hougang.
She said that they had put their belongings to the room on 18 January, but officially moved in on 25 January instead.
Everything was fine until the next day when her boyfriend received a call from the landlord who threatened to throw their belongings out. When she reached home, all her belongings were all being placed in the living room.
The landlord said that he had the right to look at her belongings lest she brought drugs into the house.
The Malaysian had posted three videos of the dispute, which comprised mainly shouting that Edwin Tong would most probably say…not germane to the dispute.
The videos can’t be embedded, so you can click here to watch them.
It’s unknown why the landlord had suddenly had a change of heart, and why he insisted on forcing the couple out based on the baseless accusations about the possession of drugs. He added that it was because…he didn’t know them at all.
However, the key dispute is about money: according to the Malaysian, they had paid $800 so far, with $550 being the deposit.
The landlord had initially wanted to give back only $250 because the arrangement was for them to move in on 1 January, but as you’d have known, they only put their stuff in later, and only moved in on 25 January.
The Malaysian then claimed that it was unreasonable for them to pay $550 for staying in for a day, and offered $100 for a day (angrily, of course).
Eventually, according to a follow-up comment, she managed to get back $700.
Now, the key question is…where’s the boyfriend?
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Boyfriend Responded in a Comment
In a comments section, the boyfriend finally spoke out.
He said that initially, they had wanted to move in on the first of the month as mentioned, but the landlord claimed that moving in during the new year is unlucky, so they moved in later, putting their belongings in the room on 18 January instead, with the intention to move in on 25 January.
He said that on 25 January, both his girlfriend and him moved in at 11pm, and went off to work on the next morning. At about 4pm to 5pm, the landlord called him, saying angrily that they must move out by that day, if not he would throw their things out.
He asked for a few days’ grace but he claimed that he landlord was “unreasonable”. As he had to work until 8:30pm that day, his girlfriend reached home earlier to confront the landlord, resulting in the video.
Now, I know you’re just as confused as any reader: What could’ve triggered such a reaction from the landlord? Why did the Malaysian couple placed their belongings earlier and moved in later?
Before you come to any conclusion like most of the comments there, you might want to watch this video to the end to know more about the Rashomon Effect:
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Featured Image: Facebook (蔡怡)