Singapore Expats

References + landlords + agents

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Habitat
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References + landlords + agents

Post by Habitat » Sun, 18 Aug 2013 6:15 pm

Do people require to produce references from their past landlords when they move to Singapore from other countries and are looking for a place to rent?

Also, we heard feedbacks about tenants and renting, and it is important for a tenant to find an agent that would represent him/her - the tenant and NOT a landlord.
How to make sure that the tenant found a right agent? What checkups the tenant would need to do on agents to make sure that they do not work for landlords?

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nakatago
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Re: References + landlords + agents

Post by nakatago » Sun, 18 Aug 2013 7:17 pm

Habitat wrote:Do people require to produce references from their past landlords when they move to Singapore from other countries and are looking for a place to rent?

Also, we heard feedbacks about tenants and renting, and it is important for a tenant to find an agent that would represent him/her - the tenant and NOT a landlord.
How to make sure that the tenant found a right agent? What checkups the tenant would need to do on agents to make sure that they do not work for landlords?
* no need for references from previous landlords
* a tenant's agent is NOT necessary. you can do things DIY. it can be tricky though not to but it is doable
* agents need to be licensed by the CEA

The consensus is that tenant agents are superfluous, money-sucking leaches but there are some exceptions. You can do a search here in the forums for people complaining about their agents.
"A quokka is what would happen if there was an anime about kangaroos."

g-shock
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Post by g-shock » Sun, 18 Aug 2013 8:35 pm

I'd think it's important for you to retain an agent or at least get someone on the expats forum to advise you if you are totally unclear about the rental situation / legal stuff involved.

By law, the tenant's agent is supposed to work for you (the tenant) because of what the law or what we know as fiduciary duty, where you are "confidantes" in each other. It becomes a breach if your agent ends up advising the landlord and i doubt it will happen so long as you threaten them with making a complain to the CEA. (don't abuse this feature though, i am sure they wouldnt appreciate frequent threats)

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