Nightmare landlords are not something entirely new, especially when renting in Singapore, where the law generally favours landlords over tenants.
However, all other nightmare landlords pale in comparison to this particular one, as attested by her unfortunate tenant, Mr Terrance Tham. He took to Facebook on 7 April in a desperate plea for help. His post has since gone viral, with over 2,200 shares.
Finding their rental on Carousell
Mr Tham and his wife found the apartment for rent on Carousell and were referred by an agent. When they headed to the property for a house visit, Miss Chung Mee Yoke claimed to be the landlord and that they would be dealing directly with her instead of through the agent.
However, when they moved in on 3 April, the couple ran into their first problem. They realised the air-conditioner was faulty, even though they had been promised that the unit would be ready and in good order by 2 April.
He added that the landlord did not inform him about the faulty air-conditioner beforehand. After checking with other tenants, he learnt that it had been broken for more than two months and that Chung had been finding cheap workarounds.
After informing Chung, she agreed to get the air-conditioner fixed on 21 April.
Temperatures rising
Just five days after starting their tenancy, things got heated on 7 April when Chung showed up unannounced at the apartment and started a commotion.
According to Tham, she took the rental contract and apartment key from his wife. She demanded they leave immediately or hand over S$100 for the apartment key if they wanted to continue their tenancy.
Tham was forced to rush home from work after receiving a call from his wife.
He called the police as Chung had begun to chase them out by putting their belongings outside the unit. She also threatened to dispose of their items when they were not around.
Handling the situation
Shortly after, a second police call was made as Chung accused them of taking a cabinet handle.
Despite having a faulty air-conditioner unit, the couple managed to keep their cool throughout the altercation. However, things took a sharp turn when Chung started rummaging through their belongings, searching for the supposedly missing handle.
Tham tried to stop her, which resulted in her getting aggressive. According to him, Chung was verbally abusive towards him and his wife throughout the entire ordeal.
Chung attempted to snatch his phone when she noticed Tham recording a video of her. When she failed to do so, she turned violent and threw a punch at him.
In a separate video, Mr Tham can be heard telling her that he had called the police after she hit him. She then accused him of trying to push and molest her, making threats, saying, “If you touch me, I’ll hit you.”
Searching for a place to call home
The couple had already paid a deposit of S$1,000, with a balance of S$1,600 to be paid if everything was in order.
Tham and his wife have since moved out of the apartment and are currently living with his parents. He also added on his Facebook post that he is looking for a new place to rent, preferably in the East or Central region.
His request comes with a specific requirement: the air-conditioner has to be in good working order, possibly to avoid a similar heated situation.
Should you have the misfortune of running into a nightmare landlord, we talk about how you can settle rental disputes by going through Small Claims Tribunals (SCT).
Do you have your own nightmare rental experience to share? Let us know in the comments section below or on our Facebook post.
If you found this article helpful, check out 5 small things that could cause your landlord to kick you out and 7 types of landlords every tenant will encounter in Singapore.
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The post Landlord allegedly punched tenant, forced him out after five days appeared first on 99.co.
