Needing advice on terminating a lease agreement

[jayde85]

Hello fellow Expats,

I am unfortunately not able to complete my one-year lease i currently hold, as I am returning to Canada early.

My one-year lease does not hold a diplomatic clause.

I understand the Landlord can hold my deposit, but is it true they can also go after me for the remaining terms' rent?

What options do I have in this scenario, or is there some sort of centre for Expats to get further advice?

I appreciate all your assistance of the above mentioned,

Missing Canada

[MinSG]

Is it your own intention to go back to Canada or your company to ask you to leave? If it is your company to ask you to leave, you can get a company letter stating the reason and just give one or two months notice(depending on your contract) to the landlord and the landlord shall return you the deposit. However, for the notice period, you still need to pay the rental. Landlord may go after you for the remaining terms but compensation amount is negotiable. My advice to you is to check with your agent for the best option. You don't need to talk directly with the landlord but the agent. The agent is paid for this task as well. Good luck!

[jayde85]

It is my own willing, but I am working with my Company to allow me to transfer to a location back home.

Unfortunately, I will only be able to give a month's notice, as I have a return ticket booked for June 29th.

I want to ensure I will not have to pay the remaining 6 months on my lease prior to leaving Singapore.

I was told that if I leave without paying, I will not be able to return to Singapore as I will be flagged at the airport.

[x9200]

Hello fellow Expats,

I am unfortunately not able to complete my one-year lease i currently hold, as I am returning to Canada early.

My one-year lease does not hold a diplomatic clause.

I understand the Landlord can hold my deposit, but is it true they can also go after me for the remaining terms' rent?

I am not sure if for the remaining but at least for some time he/she may need to find a new tenant and then the difference in rent if any. You may also need to pay partly the commission fees if any relevant.

What options do I have in this scenario, or is there some sort of centre for Expats to get further advice?

The best option would be:
1. find someone to take over your lease
2. to agree on some compensation with the landlord

I appreciate all your assistance of the above mentioned,

Missing Canada

[x9200]

If it is your company to ask you to leave, you can get a company letter stating the reason and just give one or two months notice(depending on your contract) to the landlord and the landlord shall return you the deposit.

OP does not have the diplomatic clause what was clearly stated.

[Strong Eagle]

As a landlord myself, I don't have much sympathy for you. You are leaving voluntarily and you think you should not have to pay?

Look at it from the landlord's perspective. You are breaking the lease. This means:

a) I will have to clean up after your sh*t, maybe do some painting, certainly a lot of cleaning, maybe some repairing in order to make the place attractive again to lease. This costs time and money.

b) I will have to incur the expenses of re-renting much earlier than I anticipated, advertising, agent fees, etc.

c) I will be stuck with an empty house while still needing to pay mortgage, insurance, and taxes. In other words, I take a loss because you moved out.

No, you are stiffing the landlord, and at the very least I would hold your deposit for failing to adhere to the terms of your lease. I would also demand that you pay me at least two months rent to cover my expenses of having to re-rent early.

So, your wording is not correct. You are not "unfortunately not able to complete my one-year lease", you are voluntarily leaving and attempting to avoid the consequences of your actions.

[februus]

Just my thoughts....


Try talking to your landlord explain the situation and see if you can come to some mutually agreeable solution.

At the end of the day, I can't imagine that the landlord is going to chase you around the world trying to get their money back it simply won't be worth worth their time/cost, but that doesn't mean that you should just walk away from your responsibilities.

I am sure your landlord will understand that the reality is that there is really very little they can do to you without you having to explain it to them. If you fulfil your moral responsibilities by reachinfg an agreement to reimburse reasonably for lost rent, cost of finding a new tenant etc and leave on amicable grounds it will be to everyones benefit (including other expats that want to rent here).

I personally don't really agree with the Singaporean system that you have to sign up for 1, 2 or 3yrs because circumstances do change. I prefer the English system of 6 months, followed by a rolling month, but then I am living in Singapore not England now, so I need to comply with the local requirements, not my personal beliefs.

As for whether it will stop you coming to singapore again - I have no idea, but presumably if you dislike it so much, you won't want to.

[DimWit Kid]

Just my thoughts....

.

At the end of the day, I can't imagine that the landlord is going to chase you around the world trying to get their money back it simply won't be worth worth their time/cost, but that doesn't mean that you should just walk away from your responsibilities.

I am sure your landlord will understand that the reality is that there is really very little they can do to you without you having to explain it to them. If you fulfil your moral responsibilities by reachinfg an agreement to reimburse reasonably for lost rent, cost of finding a new tenant etc and leave on amicable grounds it will be to everyones benefit (including other expats that want to rent here).

I personally don't really agree with the Singaporean system that you have to sign up for 1, 2 or 3yrs because circumstances do change. I prefer the English system of 6 months, followed by a rolling month, but then I am living in Singapore not England now, so I need to comply with the local requirements, not my personal beliefs.

As for whether it will stop you coming to singapore again - I have no idea, but presumably if you dislike it so much, you won't want to.

Februus, you're not really accurate (or perhaps not yet here as long as sms )

Landlord will not chase all over the world, they will just make sure next time the same person enter Singapore he/she will go straight to detention if he runs away now.

And although I'm not a landlord, I also have little sympathy for this circumstances. This will definitely make life harder for other expats trying to find a home here.

Next inaccuracy - what bull about "Singapore system" requiring you to contract 1 year or more. There's no such system. You can always get 3 months, 6 months, or even 1 month contract. You just have to pay much more. So in this sense, as SE said, a conscious decision to rent 1 year, avoiding premium of shorter period or premium of Serviced Apartments, and then still want the luxury to bail before time.

I know what I will do if I were the landlord. Lodge a complaint to tribunal for the rest of the rent dues. If there's nobody to collect - see my first paragraph

x9200 gives the best advise. Talk to landlord, try finding a tenant to take over. Not easy to find tenant for 6 month or so only. One thing works for this guy/gal, is that rentals are rising. Even so, if landlord wants to sue, legally that still doesn't do anything to his/her liability.

[Mad Scientist]

I was told that if I leave without paying, I will not be able to return to Singapore as I will be flagged at the airport.

I am not wanting to get into this debate on your predicament , just pointing out your assumption on the above

Your TA is between two parties i.e landlord and tenant. This is a civil matter between two private parties. It has NOTHING to do with the Gahmen
How do you percieve you can be flagged at the airport if these grievances are private. ? Think .....it is just illogical for the Gahmen to get involve a petty matter like this one.The only thing that can come to my mind is IRA SG acting on behalf of the landlord but certainly not to the extent of being flagged.

If you have signed on the TA , go thru it thoroughly. If there are clause for early termination or whatever then you are done for.

[februus]

Februus, you're not really accurate (or perhaps not yet here as long as sms )

DimWit Kid, thanks for your feedback, but...

Landlord will not chase all over the world, they will just make sure next time the same person enter Singapore he/she will go straight to detention if he runs away now.

Same point I made and as stated had no idea what would happen if they tried to re-enter the country.

And although I'm not a landlord, I also have little sympathy for this circumstances. This will definitely make life harder for other expats trying to find a home here.

I believe I also said this and agree with you

Next inaccuracy - what bull about "Singapore system" requiring you to contract 1 year or more. There's no such system. You can always get 3 months, 6 months, or even 1 month contract. You just have to pay much more. So in this sense, as SE said, a conscious decision to rent 1 year, avoiding premium of shorter period or premium of Serviced Apartments, and then still want the luxury to bail before time.

Have you ever tried to get a private landlord to agree to a 3 or 6 month contract? I have a colleague who has just moved to my company for 6 months and despite having professional help (its a major blue chip) so far has not been able to get a landlord to agree to 6 months, other than Serviced Apartment most of which are too far away from his place of work.

The point I was making is that if you are in Singapore you need to follow their customs and it is customary (i.e. an expectation of the system - as distinct from a legal standpoint) that contracts start at 1 year

I know what I will do if I were the landlord. Lodge a complaint to tribunal for the rest of the rent dues. If there's nobody to collect - see my first paragraph

As I said in my post I have no idea what will happen in this case

x9200 gives the best advise. Talk to landlord, try finding a tenant to take over. Not easy to find tenant for 6 month or so only. One thing works for this guy/gal, is that rentals are rising. Even so, if landlord wants to sue, legally that still doesn't do anything to his/her liability

I believe thats exactly what I was saying i.e. talk to the landlod and try and reach some sort of agreement.

[NBB2]

I think it's safe to say that most people would have sympathy for OP. But this sympathy has no bearing on his duty to honor the lease that he agreed to, signed his name to.

Think of it this way, if TAs included the restriction to leave the country for the duration of the term, that would truly be a bummer for OP. As it stands, this is not the case of course; OP can at all times "buy" his way out of the TA. All he has to do is pay for the remainder of the lease. The deposit will then be returned to him.

Doing a runner is a non-option, regardless or not of whether OP will be busted next time he enters Singapore.

If I were OP, I'd bend over backwards to find a replacement tenant and work out a deal with the landlord. Everybody can come out a winner here.

By the way, OP you can give 2 months' notice, all you have to do is change your departure date, which is easy online; most it'll cost you is $$100,-

Again, OP, we feel for your situation. As for your playing the victim card, it doesn't fly.

I hope it all works out.