tenancy dispute with landlord

belenlie · Post by **belenlie** » Sat, 15 Mar 2008 12:06 am

Hi,

My husband and I just moved to Singapore last year. We don't really understand the law on tenant's right here in Singapore. I tried to search from internet, but it seems that such dispute will only be solved through mediation. I really appreciate your advices from legal point of view or even just sharing experiences on what to do in the case like mine.

My lease contract just ended last month, according to the agreement, the landlord need to pay back my 1 month deposit (after deducting any liabilities incurred by tenant) within 14 days. Now 14 days has past, the landlord hasn't done anything to comply with what we had agreed. I have tried to contact him many times, but received no response. All the information I have about him is his IC, address and contact number. My questions are:
1. What kind of legal actions can be done in a case like this? and which government agency to contact to file the complaint?
2. It seems that the definition of "liabilities incurred by tenant" is not very clear and has a very broad scope, bearing in mind that the condition of the premise when we took up the rent, had already had some damages. Therefore my question is how this "liabilities" will be determined? Is landlord the only party who will determine the sum of this liabilities?

Your advices will be really appreciated.

Thank you

Post by **sundaymorningstaple** » Sat, 15 Mar 2008 12:13 pm

Welcome to Singapore. As such there are no tenants rights here. Everything is heavily weighted to the landlord's favour. Probably CASE is your only option.

Post by **jpatokal** » Tue, 18 Mar 2008 2:40 am

Forget CASE, head straight to the Small Claims Tribunal. Straightforward process, filing fee of S$10, and cases like yours are open and shut.

http://app.subcourts.gov.sg/subcourts/p ... ageid=4173

For your case it's too late, but in general, it's wise to not pay the last month's rent. Technically you shouldn't do this, of course, but in practice it puts you in a much stronger negotiating position: it balances out with the security deposit, so you actually owe the landlord $0, and they have to sue you and win in court if they want to make you pay silly damages like they usually do.

durain · Post by **durain** » Tue, 18 Mar 2008 3:00 am

CASE is only for consumer stuff, like if your kettle is not working, etc. and the shop is not gonna give you a refund, etc.

for landlord vs tenant, you can go to your local community center and find out when they have a free legal aid/advise. or you can go to the free Pro Bono in woodland.

ksl · Post by **ksl** » Thu, 20 Mar 2008 5:25 pm

jpatokal wrote:Forget CASE, head straight to the Small Claims Tribunal. Straightforward process, filing fee of S$10, and cases like yours are open and shut.

http://app.subcourts.gov.sg/subcourts/p ... ageid=4173

For your case it's too late, but in general, it's wise to not pay the last month's rent. Technically you shouldn't do this, of course, but in practice it puts you in a much stronger negotiating position: it balances out with the security deposit, so you actually owe the landlord $0, and they have to sue you and win in court if they want to make you pay silly damages like they usually do.

This is fine providing they don't padlock the entrance for none payment, of which many organised landlords will!

oku · Post by **oku** » Thu, 20 Mar 2008 6:45 pm

i thought the landlord has to return the deposit on the day you hand over the keys????

Post by **sundaymorningstaple** » Thu, 20 Mar 2008 10:10 pm

This is Singapore not the rest of the world.

durain · Post by **durain** » Thu, 20 Mar 2008 11:34 pm

where fair wear and tear means the plastic cover on the sofa should still be intact after2 years rental!

maneo · Post by **maneo** » Fri, 21 Mar 2008 8:36 am

sundaymorningstaple wrote:This is Singapore not the rest of the world.

Landlords are not necessarily required "to return the deposit on the day you hand over the keys" in the rest of the world.
If I remember correctly, a landlord is allowed 2 weeks to return whatever deposit is owed in California and in Texas.
In China it is a month (time for bills to show up).

Post by **sundaymorningstaple** » Fri, 21 Mar 2008 11:40 am

maneo wrote:
sundaymorningstaple wrote:This is Singapore not the rest of the world.
Landlords are not necessarily required "to return the deposit on the day you hand over the keys" in the rest of the world.
If I remember correctly, a landlord is allowed 2 weeks to return whatever deposit is owed in California and in Texas.
In China it is a month (time for bills to show up).

In Singapore it can take up to 3 months if you get it back at all. Like I said, Singapore is not the rest of the world.

aargon · Post by **aargon** » Sun, 27 Nov 2011 1:03 am

hopefully this is an exception rather than the norm!

JR8 · Post by **JR8** » Sun, 27 Nov 2011 1:40 am

aargon wrote:hopefully this is an exception rather than the norm!

Er, why are you digging up posts from 3-4 years ago to make such an observation?

aargon · Post by **aargon** » Sun, 27 Nov 2011 8:35 am

my lease expires in a couple of weeks.........

Post by **sundaymorningstaple** » Sun, 27 Nov 2011 11:35 am

aargon,

Damn Bro, you been here that long already! Good luck. Hope you've taken in some of the tips & checklists presented on here when you first negotiated your current lease. e.g., photo checklist. Let us know how you go.....

sms

aargon · Post by **aargon** » Sat, 07 Jan 2012 9:53 pm

sundaymorningstaple wrote:aargon,

Damn Bro, you been here that long already! Good luck. Hope you've taken in some of the tips & checklists presented on here when you first negotiated your current lease. e.g., photo checklist. Let us know how you go.....

sms

thanks sms.

I got 100% of my deposit back (10K!!) with no hassles.

So life is good.

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tenancy dispute with landlord

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