Property Views
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lee_yl\" post_id=\"2064030\" time=\"1649569975\" user_id=\"17023:
Hi lee_yl, Any updates on this issue ? It was highlighted in this article: https://stackedhomes.com/editorial/singapore-landlord-allegedly-kicks-tenant-out-only-to-list-property-40-higher-heres-the-breakdown/#gs.f7mzq7, and that's how I came across this forum.
Update:
HDB has replied my earlier email which asked about the potential loophole of using termination of approval to rent out whole unit to evict tenants and the landlordâs contravention of HDBâs rules and regulations by renting to foreigners not of Malaysian origin for more than 2 years. To my utter surprise, HDBâs reply was totally off, it just stated that
1).HDB was not responsible for any premature termination of a tenancy agreement. 2). Landlord had applied and obtained approval first before renting out the whole unit, so LL has not broken any terms and conditions. The replies were totally off my questions. In the first place, renting out a HDB unit for 3yrs to foreigners not of Malaysian origin is already a contravention.
The killer statement was in the last sentence when HDB stated that it would not be responding to any of my subsequent emails on the matter.
I scratched my head and wondered whether my English was poor thatâs why HDB misunderstood my queries. I re-read my emails and I had been very clear about my concerns. Which then makes me feel sad that HDB had deliberately chosen to ignore real issues and decided to be defensive. Whatâs worse, even though a clear contravention of HDBâs own rules and regulations was reported, HDB had chosen not to exercise its power as a regulator to investigate the matter.
For the next step, I am likely to write to Minister(National Development) to see what else could be done. Open for any suggestions that could help. I already running out of ideas.
I am facing similar issue - there is no early termination clause in my HDB tenancy agreement. Because the rent has risen these days, landlord is asking me to leave while I have 17 months left in my 2-year agreement. On top of that, my wife is pregnant and under lots of mental stress. First, landlord said they want to sell, now they are saying via their agent they want to shift back to their flat. Landlord's agent almost threatening me by asking me to resolve it diplomatically, otherwise landlord can take steps. When asked what steps, the agent said that he may go to HDB or put the flat for sale. What is the point of having a legal tenancy agreement in Singapore when I can be threatened and landlords can flout the rules and HDB loopholes at their will ? -
singhvibhav\" post_id=\"2085897\" time=\"1665904374\" user_id=\"199672:
Can you check your TA again and confirm that the no early termination clause is for both parties, or to you, the tenant side only and not the landlord?
Hi lee_yl, Any updates on this issue ? It was highlighted in this article: https://stackedhomes.com/editorial/singapore-landlord-allegedly-kicks-tenant-out-only-to-list-property-40-higher-heres-the-breakdown/#gs.f7mzq7, and that's how I came across this forum.
I am facing similar issue - there is no early termination clause in my HDB tenancy agreement. Because the rent has risen these days, landlord is asking me to leave while I have 17 months left in my 2-year agreement. On top of that, my wife is pregnant and under lots of mental stress. First, landlord said they want to sell, now they are saying via their agent they want to shift back to their flat. Landlord's agent almost threatening me by asking me to resolve it diplomatically, otherwise landlord can take steps. When asked what steps, the agent said that he may go to HDB or put the flat for sale. What is the point of having a legal tenancy agreement in Singapore when I can be threatened and landlords can flout the rules and HDB loopholes at their will ? -
singhvibhav\" post_id=\"2085897\" time=\"1665904374\" user_id=\"199672:
Wow, you got diverted to KSP forum via the Stackedhomes link. đ
Hi lee_yl, Any updates on this issue ? It was highlighted in this article: https://stackedhomes.com/editorial/singapore-landlord-allegedly-kicks-tenant-out-only-to-list-property-40-higher-heres-the-breakdown/#gs.f7mzq7, and that's how I came across this forum.
I am facing similar issue - there is no early termination clause in my HDB tenancy agreement. Because the rent has risen these days, landlord is asking me to leave while I have 17 months left in my 2-year agreement. On top of that, my wife is pregnant and under lots of mental stress. First, landlord said they want to sell, now they are saying via their agent they want to shift back to their flat. Landlord's agent almost threatening me by asking me to resolve it diplomatically, otherwise landlord can take steps. When asked what steps, the agent said that he may go to HDB or put the flat for sale. What is the point of having a legal tenancy agreement in Singapore when I can be threatened and landlords can flout the rules and HDB loopholes at their will ?
First and foremost, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Stackedhomes for the article which provided a good summary of the issue. In this rising rental environment, landlord will try all means to get higher paying tenants.
Quick recap of my case, the tenancy agreement was prematurely terminated when the landlord (LL) applied to HDB to terminate the approval to rent out her whole HDB. Thus, the tenants had no choice but to vacate or else they would become overstayers. The tenants were left with no place to go to when suddenly, police came knocking on their door one morning with LL and the HDB termination letter. The HDB termination letter stated that the landlord wished to take back the unit for own stay. But to my surprise, I saw the unit listed on propertyguru asking for a much higher rental within a week. Obviously, LL is making use of HDB rules to take advantage of hapless tenants. To add salt to the injury, LL did not return the tenants their 3 monthsâ deposit.
I wrote in to HDB twice about the case, and to my horror, both their replies were irrelevant. Worse still, their 2nd reply informed that it would be their final reply to me and I shouldnât write in to them anymore! Btw, HDB CEO and the senior management were also kept in the loop as they were on the CC list.
I asked HDB whether there was any loophole in HDB regulations that could be exploited by unscrupulous landlords and HDBâs reply was that HDB didnât see it as a loophole. The only recourse is for tenant to get their own lawyers to sue the landlord in a civil suit.
I hesitated to write to feedback to Minister because in HDBâs final reply, instead of addressing me as Miss Lee, HDB officer spelled out my full name together with my identity number :nailbite: which appeared to have a threatening undertone. I was just trying to seek redress for an injustice and had not wish to get into trouble with a government agency.
As your case sounds similar to what I have experienced, I think you should either suffer the injustice in silence and just get what concession you can get from your landlord and move out or proceed to engage a lawyer to fight your case. -
kaisuism\" post_id=\"2085904\" time=\"1665924822\" user_id=\"199574:
Yes, I checked thoroughly. There is no early termination clause. There's just diplomatic clause. If tenants were leaving before the TA tenure, I am sure landlord would not let them go that easily and demand rent for the remaining months. But now since rents are rising, this has become a trend, but an illegal one.
Can you check your TA again and confirm that the no early termination clause is for both parties, or to you, the tenant side only and not the landlord? -
lee_yl\" post_id=\"2085990\" time=\"1666014043\" user_id=\"17023:
Fighting for justice requires courage and sacrifice. In any case, I gathered a lot of opinion online and also consulted a lawyer. Here are the key findings which could have helped in your case:
Wow, you got diverted to KSP forum via the Stackedhomes link. đ
First and foremost, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Stackedhomes for the article which provided a good summary of the issue. In this rising rental environment, landlord will try all means to get higher paying tenants.
Quick recap of my case, the tenancy agreement was prematurely terminated when the landlord (LL) applied to HDB to terminate the approval to rent out her whole HDB. Thus, the tenants had no choice but to vacate or else they would become overstayers. The tenants were left with no place to go to when suddenly, police came knocking on their door one morning with LL and the HDB termination letter. The HDB termination letter stated that the landlord wished to take back the unit for own stay. But to my surprise, I saw the unit listed on propertyguru asking for a much higher rental within a week. Obviously, LL is making use of HDB rules to take advantage of hapless tenants. To add salt to the injury, LL did not return the tenants their 3 monthsâ deposit.
I wrote in to HDB twice about the case, and to my horror, both their replies were irrelevant. Worse still, their 2nd reply informed that it would be their final reply to me and I shouldnât write in to them anymore! Btw, HDB CEO and the senior management were also kept in the loop as they were on the CC list.
I asked HDB whether there was any loophole in HDB regulations that could be exploited by unscrupulous landlords and HDBâs reply was that HDB didnât see it as a loophole. The only recourse is for tenant to get their own lawyers to sue the landlord in a civil suit.
I hesitated to write to feedback to Minister because in HDBâs final reply, instead of addressing me as Miss Lee, HDB officer spelled out my full name together with my identity number :nailbite: which appeared to have a threatening undertone. I was just trying to seek redress for an injustice and had not wish to get into trouble with a government agency.
As your case sounds similar to what I have experienced, I think you should either suffer the injustice in silence and just get what concession you can get from your landlord and move out or proceed to engage a lawyer to fight your case.
HDB provides an easy online facility for owners to cancel tenancy approval, but it does not free the owners from the legal obligations of a valid tenancy agreement, which includes letting the tenant stay peacefully for the full tenure of the agreement. That's why HDB recommended going to court - tenancy dispute is not their jurisdiction. This is especially true if there is no early termination clause. The tenant can file a civil lawsuit or go to the Small Claims Tribunal and get compensation from the owner which will easily exceed any potential rental hikes or profits that the owner is anticipating.
Further, while HDB regulations do not allow the units to be sold with tenancy, the existing tenants need to be agreeable to move out of the property if the sale completion falls within the tenancy period. Here again, selling an HDB flat does not free the landlord from the legal obligations of a valid tenancy agreement. (Some agents claim that TA becomes invalid upon sale approval. This is wrong information. A legal TA exists before the sales deed, and landlord can be sued on the basis of that. In fact, this amounts to fraud and gaming the system).
Unless there are clauses in the Tenancy Agreement that allows the landlord to terminate the rental contract earlier, the tenant has the legal right to continue living in the property until the expiration of the lease. As such, the lessor must properly compensate the tenant if the property owner wants the latter to leave.
I also have two real examples of friends and acquaintances:
1) A tenant has 6 months left in the tenancy agreement's expiry and he got 6 months' rent as compensation when his landlord was willing to sell the HDB flat. The matter was amicably settled.
2) Another tenant was coerced to such an extent that he moved the Small Claims tribunal. The tribunal issued a summon letter for the landlord, upon receipt of which, the landlord requested to settle out of court/tribunal. -
I m just curiousâŠbased on those info, you can donât move out without compensation from landlord?
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I always feel that those with legal knowledge or have easy access to lawyersâ advice are at an upper hand compared with the laymen in this case.
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MrsKiasu\" post_id=\"2086302\" time=\"1666273512\" user_id=\"43981:
For my case har, the landlord purposely terminated the approval to rent out whole HDB flat. Therefore, the tenant must vacate mah.
I m just curious..based on those info, you can don't move out without compensation from landlord? -
starlight1968sg\" post_id=\"2086319\" time=\"1666303769\" user_id=\"14025:
Yes, but at what cost? Each letter the tenantâs lawyer writes to landlord will cost about $500. Write 3 letters already $1500 leh.
I always feel that those with legal knowledge or have easy access to lawyers' advice are at an upper hand compared with the laymen in this case.
Our lawyer advised us not to sue the landlord as the cost of going to court is estimated at $8K and the whole process could drag on for years.
Our lawyer wrote in to HDB before, to state that the unit has an active tenancy but HDB abruptly terminated the approval to rent which left the tenants in a lurch. In the end also äžäșäșäč. My tenants still have to pay $$ to this lawyer leh. -
I m just thinking if in the first place the TA can be enforced. The LL can terminate the the lease with HDB but he got to make compensation to his tenant on the remaining lease?
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