Early termination of our 2 year lease

[zzm9980]

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.

I actually agree with your general sentiments, except you seem to forget this is not the US. You want to be in Singapore? You have to deal with third world bullshit, and cannot show up and expect to impose your expectations (however reasonable they may actually be) on everyone else. Consider the bullshit a cost of living in Singapore. If you don't like it, you go. Judging by all of your other posts, you seem to be very disgruntled about living here. I agree with most of the, but as a guest in their country I play ball by their rules.

Also, there is no such thing about leases in the US that you speak of. Every location has their own policy, based on local municipal and stare rules. Maybe wherever you lived (I'm guessing California, probably SF or Berkeley judging by your self righteous imposition of your values expressed in your posts) it was standard practice to go month to month after a 1 year lease, but it isn't the same everywhere. Many landlords will boot you if you don't sign a new lease at the end.

[sundaymorningstaple]

Actually, I believe he was living in one of the south-eastern seaboard states. But as a southern gentleman I'll reserve judgement. As my sister once told me 30 years ago in the early days of my tour of duty in Singapore, I was talking about getting married to a foreigner. She interrupted me and corrected my thinking forever. She reminded me that I WASN'T marrying a foreigner, my girlfriend was! I was the foreigner, not her. I'm in "her" country. I've tried to remember that ever since. So, when the frustrations really start getting to me, I try to step back and remember that conversation.

Vanyali would be smart to remember that bit of advice as well. You can catch more ants with honey than with vinegar. He stay here will be a lot more memorable if he would remember that he's not in the US and the US is no longer the be all and end all of the world.

[x9200]

Her (I think he is a she) sentiments are understandable but she does not make her case clear enough (we know only some biased bits and pieces) so no reason to get too much excited. I can imagine there are cases where her approach would be legally justifiable and many where not and with a bit more law aware and willing to fight LL this would not end up the way she described.