Excessive move in fee? LOI signed

[derekj]

Hi,

I just moved to singapore and trying get an apartment but ran into a few problems. I signed the letter of intent last friday and the landlord has agreed to the letter and forwarded me an application to move in bulky items. i have yet to sign the letter of offer or the tenancy agreement.

Since I just moved here, i bought a sofa, bed and other furnitures from different places and they will be delivered on different days. However, the management of the building want the following before they allow delivery of bulky items.
- 500 refundable deposit after 14 days
- 53 dollar admin fee per day for the lift (in my case since it needs to be on 3 different days, they want to charge 160. this is regardless of how long i might need the lift for).
- proof that the delivery company has taken out a public indemnity insurance for 1mil.

my question is:
1. is it normal to charge 500 for deposit and 53 admin fee per day for the lift even though im only using it for 15 mins at a time
2. requiring the delivery company to show that it has public indemnity insurance for 1 mil?
3. how do I even get the delivery company to show the documentation? i tried calling the sofa shop and he just says they don't have public liability insurance.

thanks

[zzm9980]

I'd call the condo association and see what you can work out. Some buildings have such requirements in order to move in. Conversely, some moving companies won't move you into certain locations without approval from the building. Maybe you can arrange for one of those moving companies that have said insurance to collect the items and deliver them for you. I know Shalom movers is one such company. This is not an endorsement; I found them acceptable but expensive. I do know they check source and destination buildings for approval though.


Those charges don't seem to ridiculous to me. You're probably SOL if that's what the building charges. If they outrage you too much, a LOI is not binding. If you didn't sign the tenancy agreement, you can always back out and your deposit is legally refundable.

[nutnut]

My condo charges $1000 deposit, but, the removal company pays that normally, they are used to it, not sure of the lift fees though, that seems excessive!

Not sure about the insurance and the lift fee seems excessive! The Condo management office is usually answerable to a committee in the Condo, see if you an find the chairman of the committee and speak with them.

[offshoreoildude]

The lift fee is usually for coverings to protect the walls from damage. Sometimes - not often - this is a single use type covering. Maybe that explains the cost. The rest seems as the other posters have said - pretty normal.

[derekj]

thanks for everyone's advice.

not sure if there is a condo board since the whole development is owned by one company that rents all the apartments out.

I am just unhappy at the fact that the place is turning out to be a lot of problems. They also want to charge a admin fee of 214 to move in on top of the service charge and gst. the tenancy agreement also seems a bit stringent on the tenant. maybe ill just walk away and find something else. at least on my letter of intent it clearly states that the goodwill deposit will be returned regardless if the landlord accepts the loi.

[nutnut]

I'd say, if you have a bad feeling and you can break the LOI then it's wise, best not to regret not having done that! plenty more fish in the sea!