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Leaving singapore without telling landlord

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mayz945
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Leaving singapore without telling landlord

Post by mayz945 » Mon, 16 May 2016 2:37 pm

My neighbors here have un-expectantly been laid off and are planning on skipping town without telling the landlord a thing until they are out of the country. Just trying to look out for them - are there any reprocusions to doing something like this (apart from morally)? They seem to have been told it's a common occurrence. Can their singapore bank accounts be frozen if the landlord reports them?

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JR8
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Re: Leaving singapore without telling landlord

Post by JR8 » Mon, 16 May 2016 6:19 pm

mayz945 wrote:My neighbors here have un-expectantly been laid off and are planning on skipping town without telling the landlord a thing until they are out of the country. Just trying to look out for them - are there any reprocusions to doing something like this (apart from morally)? They seem to have been told it's a common occurrence. Can their singapore bank accounts be frozen if the landlord reports them?

What a desperate - and yes morally indefensible IMPO - way to go about things. Above and beyond that it would open all manner of risks some known and some unknown.

What kind of tenancy agreement are they on? How much longer does it have to run, does it have a break clause and/or a 'diplomatic clause'?

A common thing? I've seen the idea floated here a couple of times over the years but I haven't known, or read here of, anyone who has actually gone ahead and done it.

Perhaps a worst case is the landlord adds up all outstanding rent, adds on a list of all alleged damage to the flat (which the tenant isn't there to argue). Adds a claim for the void since he didn't know the tenant had left. Then goes to court in the absence of the tenant and files a case, which one might assume he'd get a summary judgement on, i.e. win. That leads on to enforcing the judgement and... effectively the tenant never being able to transit never mind visit or work in SG again. And if say his plane was flying via Asia and his flight got diverted to Changi, he might count of getting arrested (etc) upon landing as well.

If the moral void isn't bad enough, wouldn't having the latter scenario hanging over you for the rest of your life just be the icing on that $hitty cake?
'Do it or do not do it: You will regret both' - Kierkegaard

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PNGMK
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Re: Leaving singapore without telling landlord

Post by PNGMK » Mon, 16 May 2016 9:10 pm

Oh horse shit JR8. A summary civil judgement for less than $10,000 (if the LL bothers) is NOT going to involve any criminal or immigration action. Now, if it is more than $10,000 and the former tenants are somehow forced into absentee bankruptcy perhaps but I'd have to see a case like this before I believed it.
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Re: Leaving singapore without telling landlord

Post by x9200 » Mon, 16 May 2016 9:30 pm

The LL will take a can of red paint and pour it over the walls and the floor and later report intentional damage to the property done by the tenant who's reputation was clearly questionable anyway.

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Re: Leaving singapore without telling landlord

Post by PNGMK » Tue, 17 May 2016 9:15 am

...and who will he report it to? You guys are in fantasy land. There is no hyped up, armed, land lord recovery unit in Singapore. We've seen already how toothless the Small Claims Tribunal is. You truly think a LL is going to go all the way to the SC; get a judgement and then have that order somehow enforced overseas?
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Re: Leaving singapore without telling landlord

Post by Strong Eagle » Tue, 17 May 2016 10:46 am

mayz945 wrote:My neighbors here have un-expectantly been laid off and are planning on skipping town without telling the landlord a thing until they are out of the country. Just trying to look out for them - are there any reprocusions to doing something like this (apart from morally)? They seem to have been told it's a common occurrence. Can their singapore bank accounts be frozen if the landlord reports them?
They are probably leaving this way because they already know that they will not get their deposit back and that they are breaking the lease. The landlord may piss and moan but she/he doesn't have much recourse.

The courts will be expensive and time consuming, and in the end, fruitless. Such occurrences are not unusual... and if the LL's in Singapore weren't so damned insistent about refusing to accept escape clauses, it would be much easier for everyone involved.

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Re: Leaving singapore without telling landlord

Post by rajagainstthemachine » Tue, 17 May 2016 11:15 am

Strong Eagle wrote:... and if the LL's in Singapore weren't so damned insistent about refusing to accept escape clauses, it would be much easier for everyone involved.
this^^^^
To get there early is on time and showing up on time is late

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Re: Leaving singapore without telling landlord

Post by PNGMK » Tue, 17 May 2016 11:37 am

I tell you what though. If I was in the debt collection business I would target landlords here as a market... help them get a judgement and then buy it off them for cents in the dollar. Team up with overseas collectors and harass the tenants until they pay up. Just like the banks here do with CC debt.
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Re: Leaving singapore without telling landlord

Post by sundaymorningstaple » Tue, 17 May 2016 12:58 pm

I reckon it's mayz945 and not his neighbour. Odds?
SOME PEOPLE TRY TO TURN BACK THEIR ODOMETERS. NOT ME. I WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW WHY I LOOK THIS WAY. I'VE TRAVELED A LONG WAY, AND SOME OF THE ROADS WEREN'T PAVED. ~ Will Rogers

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Re: Leaving singapore without telling landlord

Post by rajagainstthemachine » Tue, 17 May 2016 1:31 pm

sundaymorningstaple wrote:I reckon it's mayz945 and not his neighbour. Odds?
very high! started another thread on moving large sums of money from SGD to USD and leaving the country lol.. 8-[
To get there early is on time and showing up on time is late

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PNGMK
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Re: Leaving singapore without telling landlord

Post by PNGMK » Tue, 17 May 2016 2:57 pm

sundaymorningstaple wrote:I reckon it's mayz945 and not his neighbour. Odds?
I owe you a beer for that astute and perceptive observation old man.
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Re: Leaving singapore without telling landlord

Post by BBCWatcher » Tue, 17 May 2016 7:21 pm

I hope there's no pregnancy involved at least. :(

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rajagainstthemachine
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Re: Leaving singapore without telling landlord

Post by rajagainstthemachine » Thu, 19 May 2016 9:59 am

Is this you?
Mods delete URL if necessary
http://business.asiaone.com/news/family ... tor=SEC-21
To get there early is on time and showing up on time is late

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PNGMK
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Re: Leaving singapore without telling landlord

Post by PNGMK » Thu, 19 May 2016 10:04 am

rajagainstthemachine wrote:Is this you?
Mods delete URL if necessary
http://business.asiaone.com/news/family ... tor=SEC-21
Looks like a fair amount of exaggeration there... wall paints - fair wear and tear. Lost manuals? Don't leave them in the rented out unit... scratches on furniture? Unless deep deliberate and malicious that's fair wear and tear. condo cards and keys? Ask for them to be posted back - 10:1 the tenant has put them in the mailbox or handed them to the guard and he has them somewhere.

Now the real stickler - what the hell is the LL doing in the apartment while the lease is still valid? And how did they know the tenant has done a runner?
I not lawyer/teacher/CPA.
You've been arrested? Law Society of Singapore can provide referrals.
You want an International School job? School website or http://www.ISS.edu
Your rugrat needs a School? Avoid for profit schools
You need Tax advice? Ask a CPA
You ran away without doing NS? Shame on you!

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JR8
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Re: Leaving singapore without telling landlord

Post by JR8 » Thu, 19 May 2016 3:44 pm

PNGMK wrote:Now the real stickler - what the hell is the LL doing in the apartment while the lease is still valid? And how did they know the tenant has done a runner?
A LL with reasonable grounds has a right of re-entry upon serving reasonable notice. Not just for rentals, same applies to leasehold property too (ie 100 or whatever years).
'Do it or do not do it: You will regret both' - Kierkegaard

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