Hougang Block DEF
Before you consider renting from a live-in elderly retiree, read this cautionary tale...
We are a working local couple (26M, 23F) that signed a year-long lease with a live-in landlady in HDB Hougang Block DEF Avenue 2. The landlady (68F) is semi-retired and lives with her son (45M). We rented the master bedroom.
Prior to moving in, the agent assumed that all tenants were comfortable with smokers and pets in the house. During the viewing, we did not notice any sign of pets nor did the agent tell us that the owner smokes. He was not legally obligated to do so anyways, so perhaps we were blindsided as first-time renters. When we confronted the agent about this, he argued that we did not tell him our preferences either.
When we moved in, we noticed that there was a dog cage that we had never seen before during the first viewing. We closed one eye though, and tolerated how the dog peed wherever he liked in the kitchen. At times, the pungent odour flooded the kitchen.
We simply avoided common areas where she smoked, for our young asthma-afflicted lungs refused to stomach this. We also put a door cover to block the fumes from entering the room.
These incidents account for all the insane shit that were well beyond contractual terms.
Incident #1: The landlady barged into our room suddenly, while one of us was away. My partner (26M) was shocked and confronted her in Mandarin: "Why did you just open my door!?" The landlady gave a lame excuse and said "Sorry, I thought you weren't at home." This rang many alarms and we put a CCTV in our room. Thereafter, we recorded footage of the landlady opening our room without prior notice to snoop. CLEAR BREACH OF TENANT'S RIGHT TO QUIET ENJOYMENT.
Upon moving in, the door locks were faulty. If you locked the door from inside, it would lock you out when the wind blows or door closes from outside. Hence, we avoided locking the door and the landlady claimed that she would have it repaired promptly. 2 months in, the door lock was still unrepaired...
Incident #2: The landlady noticed that I had a portable projector on our bedframe and asked about it. She said that it was prohibited as it consumes too much electricity and applies to all tenants (again, NOT IN CONTRACT AT ALL). I just closed one eye and complied as I barely used that projector anyways. I kept the projector away.
Incident #3: The landlady began bringing up additional requests (not stated in contract) like designated days to do laundry. Our contract states that we can do laundry twice per week. We assumed the landlady said this so that she will avoid washing clothes on said days. We complied at first, until it became unreasonable...
She complained to the agent that we had shifted her clothes into the inner columns of the indoor drying area to hang our clothes. THIS HAPPENED ON OUR DESIGNATED LAUNDRY DAY. The landlady promptly hung her clothes on the outdoor drying rack anyways. What's the point of complying to her requests anymore? Subsequently, I told her to take down her clothes when they were hung on designated laundry days. She blatantly said in Mandarin: "You rent the room, not the kitchen."
She fired shots first. We made sure her and the agent did not see the day of light.
We wrote a complaint to CEA about the agent's unprofessionalism. We highlighted the issue of fire safety with the faulty door lock. The agent conveyed it to the landlady and she finally had it fixed, while giving a backhanded comment: "The agent said you all had 100kg of gold inside ah?"
We made sure we built a case, in an event of early termination to secure our security deposit in Small Claims. The landlady and agent discussed, probably decided that it was best to come to mutual termination of lease.
We are moving out after 3 months of insanity, with security deposit fully refunded. GOODBYE CRAZY LANDLADY MESS