Early termination of our 2 year lease

[BundyBears]

We are wanting to break our 2 year lease after 7 months. Should we contact the agent before trying to re-let the property or proceed to find another tenant to take over from us? Are we allowed to advertise?

All seems very complicated!

[kevindinh]

It depend on the contract. Usually, a few contracts keep you not to re-let the property or find someone to take over, if your contract is not mention about this you're able to get someone.

However, if you have agent, contact them to solve the solution, that's better way.

[JR8]

Speak to the agent and do everything you can to get them on board with your situation.

Be aware that there is probably little or nothing to compel the landlord to accept alternative tenants that you might find.

[Eway]

Hi there, I think you should check for this clause in your TA: Diplomatic or Escape Clause and Reimbursement Clause

This clause is to safe guard you if in the event you are no longer employed, transferred to other countries, you can terminate the lease after 12 months by giving 2 months notice. Thereafter, the security deposit will be refunded to you. Please note that most landlords will only include the diplomatic clause if the lease is more than a year.

In a standard Singapore Tenancy Agreement, there is usually the reimbursement clause together with the diplomatic clause. This clause states that if you exercise the diplomatic clause, you will have to reimburse part of the commission the landlord had paid to his agent.

The reason behind this clause is that the landlord had paid the full one month's agent commission for a 2 years lease but if you terminate the lease by exercising the diplomatic clause, hence unable to complete the full 2 years, you will have to refund the pro-rata commission. Since landlord grants the diplomatic clause, they will usually demand reimbursement clause to be included in the tenancy agreement.

Also you can transfer the lease to a new tenant that you source this is possible, so start sourcing for the next tenant now!

Hope this helps.

[JR8]

Also you can transfer the lease to a new tenant that you source this is possible, so start sourcing for the next tenant now!

There is no point doing that until you've confirmed the landlord will accept a replacement.


p.s. You're an agent Eway? I hope you are aware of the line in the sand here for agent's, given our kindly hosts are a property company

[vanyali]

We want to break our 2-year lease after 15 months.

We offered to find the new tenant; pay an agent fee (for 1 year lease); and give the landlord (for free) all of the appliances, new light fixtures, and other fittings that we added to the property to turn the unfurnished property into a furnished property.

We also said, if we had to stay, that we would start suing/withholding rent over repairs, and think about exercising our diplomatic clause to just get out of Singapore altogether rather than stay in our current place.

No good. Landlords still say no.

So it looks like we'll be stripping the place and leaving the LL with a vacant house. Might put some scratches in the floor for good measure. Why is that better than getting a new tenant, free appliances, and the agent fee paid for? Beats me.

Why does a LL want to hold an unhappy tenant in his property? As a LL myself, I am scared to death of having an angry tenant in possession of my property. I've seen what perfectly happy tenants can do to a place. Angry, trapped tenants are a potential nightmare.

[offshoreoildude]

We want to break our 2-year lease after 15 months.

We offered to find the new tenant; pay an agent fee (for 1 year lease); and give the landlord (for free) all of the appliances, new light fixtures, and other fittings that we added to the property to turn the unfurnished property into a furnished property.

We also said, if we had to stay, that we would start suing/withholding rent over repairs, and think about exercising our diplomatic clause to just get out of Singapore altogether rather than stay in our current place.

No good. Landlords still say no.

So it looks like we'll be stripping the place and leaving the LL with a vacant house. Might put some scratches in the floor for good measure. Why is that better than getting a new tenant, free appliances, and the agent fee paid for? Beats me.

Why does a LL want to hold an unhappy tenant in his property? As a LL myself, I am scared to death of having an angry tenant in possession of my property. I've seen what perfectly happy tenants can do to a place. Angry, trapped tenants are a potential nightmare.

Phuck off and leave Singapore. We don't need anymore shit heads like you here screwing it up for the rest of us!

Edit: correct angry grammar. Still extremely pissed off at this poster.

[nutnut]

We want to break our 2-year lease after 15 months.

We offered to find the new tenant; pay an agent fee (for 1 year lease); and give the landlord (for free) all of the appliances, new light fixtures, and other fittings that we added to the property to turn the unfurnished property into a furnished property.

We also said, if we had to stay, that we would start suing/withholding rent over repairs, and think about exercising our diplomatic clause to just get out of Singapore altogether rather than stay in our current place.

No good. Landlords still say no.

So it looks like we'll be stripping the place and leaving the LL with a vacant house. Might put some scratches in the floor for good measure. Why is that better than getting a new tenant, free appliances, and the agent fee paid for? Beats me.

Why does a LL want to hold an unhappy tenant in his property? As a LL myself, I am scared to death of having an angry tenant in possession of my property. I've seen what perfectly happy tenants can do to a place. Angry, trapped tenants are a potential nightmare.

Phuck off and leave Singapore. We don't need anymore shit heads like you here screwing it up for the rest of us!

Edit: correct angry grammar. Still extremely pissed off at this poster.

Have to agree, this is despicable!

[JR8]

We want to break our 2-year lease after 15 months.

Before giving your post deeper consideration, can I just ask whether you would be happy to never set foot in Singapore again, either as a destination or in transit elsewhere?

[Mi Amigo]

We want to break our 2-year lease after 15 months.

We offered to find the new tenant; pay an agent fee (for 1 year lease); and give the landlord (for free) all of the appliances, new light fixtures, and other fittings that we added to the property to turn the unfurnished property into a furnished property.

We also said, if we had to stay, that we would start suing/withholding rent over repairs, and think about exercising our diplomatic clause to just get out of Singapore altogether rather than stay in our current place.

No good. Landlords still say no.

So it looks like we'll be stripping the place and leaving the LL with a vacant house. Might put some scratches in the floor for good measure. Why is that better than getting a new tenant, free appliances, and the agent fee paid for? Beats me.

Why does a LL want to hold an unhappy tenant in his property? As a LL myself, I am scared to death of having an angry tenant in possession of my property. I've seen what perfectly happy tenants can do to a place. Angry, trapped tenants are a potential nightmare.

vanyali, you willingly signed the tenancy agreement (a binding contract), correct? So why should you be so upset that the landlord is exercising their rights under that contract? We all know that some (OK, many) landlords here are, let's say, 'problematic', but to resort to damaging their property would only put you in the same category as the rogue landlords we often here about (IMHO).

[vanyali]

Well, I am happy to say, I did break my lease, and I did recover my deposit, and all of you nay-sayers are just sour.

You can force people to sign ridiculous contracts, like Singaporean tenancy agreements, but when it comes to enforcing them, you have to have a lot more than just a piece of paper.

For tenants in the same situation:

There will be something terribly wrong with your house or apartment, probably a leak + mold + bad wiring (after all, this is Singapore). Your landlord will probably not fix any of it right, if he even tries (after all, this is Singapore). So, make a real issue out of it. Withhold rent. See a lawyer, and tell them about it. Make a health issue out of it (toxic mold, document allergies) and threaten to sue them over it. Meanwhile, find them alternative tenants: the landlord, when you break your lease, has a "duty to mitigate". That means, he has to try to rent it out again to cover his losses, and if he does cover his losses you don't owe him anything. If you find him tenants willing to take over the lease, even if the landlord screws up the deal or refuses to take them, you've still mitigated his damages for him. Keep records of everything, so you can prove it all. Communicate through emails instead of texts, so you have permanent records of everything that is said.

The guy will cave. Eventually.

I think the way I got my deposit back was a combination of (1) not leaving Singapore (so when I threaten court, it's realistic), and (2) telling landlord it didn't look like he had the money to pay it, since he couldn't afford to maintain his property. He wanted to prove me wrong.

It worked.

When I leave for my home country, I intend to stick around Singapore for a few months after I get out of my current lease so I can sue over my deposit if necessary. That seems to be a very important part of getting the deposit back: actually being here to stand up to the landlord.

[JR8]

You sound like an a$shole.

I am a landlord.

It's because of as$holes like you that I'm disinclined to rent to sub-continentals.





Congratulations! Huge Victory!!

[zzm9980]

You sound like an a$shole.

I am a landlord.

It's because of as$holes like you that I'm disinclined to rent to sub-continentals.





Congratulations! Huge Victory!!

Go check out his other posts. It sounds like he's having issues at his new place too.

[vanyali]

I know how to stand up for myself, and I don't let landlords push me around. That seems to be rare in Singapore. About as rare as quality housing. Connection? I think so.

I'm not going to pay thousands of dollars a month for leaky, molding, crumbling crappy housing. I'm also not going to put up with being pushed around by condo guards or management either. And, as it turns out, I don't have to. If you Singaporean landlords provided quality housing, you wouldn't have problems with tenants leaving you.

What goes around comes around.

If you had any idea how realestate worked in other countries, you would be much more humble. No one elsewhere signs two year leases. In the US, one year is standard to start, and then leases go to month-to-month. This is because tenants aren't really going to plan their lives around you, and it is unreasonable to expect them to. Crafting the lease term to recognize that fact is just being honest.

In addition, tenants don't pay you to fix things elsewhere. You keep the place in working order, or the tenant withholds rent until you get your act together. End of discussion. It's your house, it's your responsibility.

If you have leaks in your house that cause mold to grow, you have to expect to get sued. That is a health issue that people take very seriously outside of Singapore. My kids are allergic to mold. My husband, when he was a child, had such a strong allergic reaction to mold that someone reported him to the Center for Disease Control as a suspected case of whooping cough! You, as a landlord, cannot expect tenants to put up with biohazards in their house, just for your convenience.

Tenants are not the only ones with responsibilities under a lease: the landlord has responsibilities as well. A landlord who does not maintain his property has himself breached the lease agreement, and yes, any tenant with a spine can and will move out. Deal with it.

[AngMoG]

I'm not going to pay thousands of dollars a month for leaky, molding, crumbling crappy housing.

There are two possibilities here:
1) The place was in (almost) that condition when you moved in. Why did you move in, then? Did you not check the place? You cannot believe landlord 'promises' here that are not written in the contract, btw.
2) If it became leaky and moldy over time, it may be because you did not maintain it - which is the tenant's duty to a certain extent. Any major items to be repaired need to be highlighted to the landlord in a timely manner, to give him opportunity to repair them. If he does not, and it is not your negligence, THEN you can break the lease.

I'm also not going to put up with being pushed around by condo guards or management either. And, as it turns out, I don't have to. If you Singaporean landlords provided quality housing, you wouldn't have problems with tenants leaving you.

What goes around comes around.

This works the other way round, too. I previously organized conferences, where I always had to deal with hotel staff. They are lowly paid, and you CAN treat them like servants, but being friendly and reasonable to them opens many doors; being nasty to them can make your life difficult. I was always friendly, and never had any problems; my colleagues often was being very difficult, and had many problems with getting little things done.

For example: you are being a bit noisy after 11pm, for whatever reason. A good relationship with your neighbors and the guards can be the difference between them calling the police immediately and them walking up to you and talking to you first.