{"id":10449,"date":"2017-06-05T07:30:22","date_gmt":"2017-06-04T23:30:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.99.co\/blog\/singapore\/?p=10449"},"modified":"2024-11-20T13:30:53","modified_gmt":"2024-11-20T05:30:53","slug":"evict-troublesome-tenant-singapore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.99.co\/singapore\/insider\/evict-troublesome-tenant-singapore\/","title":{"rendered":"How to evict a troublesome tenant in Singapore"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Sometimes, there\u2019s no way to resolve a dispute with a tenant. We\u2019ve heard some horror stories: tenants who don\u2019t pay rent for months, tenants who advertise your property on Airbnb, tenants who pack the place with foreign students who, when confronted, are apparently <\/span>all<\/span><\/i> his relatives. Well, as a landlord, you can exercise your right to terminate the lease.<\/span><\/p>\n

First, an important note on leases versus licenses:<\/h3>\n

When we talk about tenants, we usually refer to someone to whom you\u2019ve given a lease. A legal right to use the property as if it belongs to them, for a specified period subject to certain conditions. Such Lease or Tenancy Agreements must be declared with the authorities, which the tenant will have to pay stamp duty on. <\/span><\/p>\n

This differs from a licence. Unlike a lease, a licence does not give any “property rights” to a licensee – he may stay in, say, a hotel room by the hotel owner but he can be asked to leave anytime for no reason whatsoever (of course, hotel bookings are subject to certain contractual terms which will protect the consumer from unfair practices).<\/span><\/p>\n

Thus, as the landlord, the Lease Agreement governs the relationship between you and your tenant. It is worthwhile to read the standard Lease Agreements your property agent may use to ensure that it covers all the various scenarios you have in mind. For example, is it a condition of the lease that there should not be any pets? Or is there a prohibition against smoking in the apartment? \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Some hotels ask guests to sign a warranty that they will not smoke in the non-smoking rooms and if they do so, they undertake to pay for the costs of having to remove the smoke smell from all the bedsheets, upholstery, carpet <\/span>etc.<\/span><\/i>\u00a0in\u00a0<\/span>the room). If you are renting out an HDB flat, you should ensure that it is a term of the lease that other than the persons listed as occupiers in the Lease\u00a0<\/span>Agreement, no one else should stay in the flat, permanently or temporarily. And to provide that a breach of this term will cause <\/span>immediate<\/span><\/i> eviction.<\/span><\/p>\n

This is to prevent the tenant from causing you to breach HDB rules on renting out premises to illegal immigrants and the rule against renting out HDB flats or rooms inside to tourist or for short-term rental of less than 6 months (in serious cases, HDB can lose your HDB flat and home owners have gone to jail for renting out their property to illegal immigrants – unwittingly or otherwise).<\/span><\/p>\n

URA’s recent new ruling, which came into effect on 15 May 2017, also does not allow more than six unrelated tenants in the same private apartment (to prevent landlords from cramming in 20 foreign workers into a tiny apartment or HDB flat).<\/span><\/p>\n

So, how do you evict a tenant before the expiry of the Lease Agreement?<\/span><\/p>\n

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    Give written notice to the tenant<\/b><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    You should always begin by giving written notice of your intention to terminate the lease. This depends what you had provided for in the Lease Agreement. Usually, there will be such termination clauses inside. Typically, the Lease Agreement provides for notice to be served at least 30 days before the date that you want the tenant gone. However, you can evict a tenant earlier if your Lease agreement provides for such a scenario, typically on the occurrence of a specified event, for example, if his work permit is revoked.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Send snail mail and an e-mail so that there is a paper trail or evidence that you had informed the tenant formally to move out by a certain date. Legally, things may not benefit you if your “notice” was swear words shouted into your phone.<\/span><\/p>\n

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      Make sure you\u2019ve clearly specified the breach committed, any compensation sought, and actions to be taken by the tenant<\/b><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      The notice has to be served under <\/span>section 18 of the Conveyancing and Law of Property Act<\/span><\/a>. The act states that:<\/span><\/p>\n

      A right of re-entry or forfeiture under any provision or stipulation in a lease, for a breach of any covenant or condition in a lease, shall not be enforceable, by action or otherwise, unless the lessor serves on the lessee a notice specifying the particular breach complained of and, if the breach is capable of remedy, requiring the lessee to remedy the breach, and requiring the lessee to make compensation in money for the breach, and the lessee fails, within a reasonable time thereafter, to remedy the breach, if it is capable of remedy, and to make reasonable compensation in money, to the satisfaction of the lessor, for the breach.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

      To summarise the word salad, you need to include three things in the notice you serve. These are:<\/span><\/p>\n