News

S’pore Landlord Allegedly Requires Tenant to Come Back by 10pm & Charges $10 for Charging Laptop

2022-06-01 , 10:45 am

Even if you’re new to Singapore, you’ll know that property prices in Singapore are no joke even if you choose to rent a room or house.

But it seems like there’s something else that’s no laughing matter either, and it’s the attitude and rules that some landlords might impose on their tenants.

And it seems like one tenant (or a few tenants) got to experience this firsthand after seeing the agreement contract that the landlord drew up.

Jurong West Landlord’s Contract

Recently, a Facebook user shared a photo in a private Facebook group that facilitates interactions between foreigners working in Singapore to obtain others’ opinions regarding their landlord.

The photo, which was a shot of a typed agreement list that the user’s landlord had put up, left many within the group enraged.

The property, a Housing Development Board (HDB) unit located in Jurong West, is currently being rented out by the landlord for $750 a month.

And before you think that it’s just a normal list…

It isn’t (at least for most people).

The photo soon got shared outside of the group as well, and since then many netizens have criticised the landlord for their unreasonable demands.

Content of List

The list, which was typed in Chinese, included the following rules:

The tenant must return at 10pm, as the door will be locked at 10:30pm every day. Don’t affect others’ rest.
Tenant should not be at home from 8am to 5pm, except on weekends and public holidays.
No work should be done in the room. Tenant should not affect the (landlord) children’s studies and the peace of others at home.
No food is to be consumed in the room, and no sweet food can be kept in the room to avoid attracting ants and cockroaches.
Clean the room and toilet once a week. Before and after photos to be sent via WhatsApp.
Wipe the floor dry after showering so that others do not fall down.
There must not be hair or dirty things in the toilet or living room area.
The washing machine can only be used once a week. Clothes are to be hung outside to dry; undergarments should be dried in your room in order to not spread bad luck.
No visitors allowed.
No smoking allowed in the room.
Boiling water and cooking noodles is allowed, but the sink must be wiped dry after cooking.
The tenant should save water and electricity. The air conditioning cannot be turned on.
One month’s notice should be given for moving out. The deposit will be used as the final month’s rental payment.
Handphones can be charged for free. Pay $10 extra for each laptop charger.

While some rules such as the cleaning of the toilets and smoking are still pretty reasonable, others such as the locking of the door at 10.30pm and paying $10 extra just to charge a laptop would clearly feel unreasonable for most tenants.

In addition to that, forcing the tenant to be outside the house from 8am to 5pm when they should have the right to their room at all times also seemed extremely absurd to many who saw the post.

Why New List Was Put Up by Landlord

According to the caption attached to the photo, this is a new agreement list that the landlord recently put up.

The caption, which was written by the tenant in a mix of English and Chinese, explained, “Sometimes, I watch Hong Kong dramas in my room after work at night. After living in the rented room for two months, the landlord said my laptop consumes a lot of electricity.

“I was then handed a new tenancy agreement whereby I have to pay S$10 extra a month to charge my laptop. I don’t use a lot of electricity as I barely even boil water or use the iron.”

The tenant also shared their experience of being locked outside the flat twice after work due to them returning to the flat after 10pm. The tenant usually returns to the flat at about 8pm or 9pm after ending work.

“The landlord is a woman in her 70s. Her son and daughter-in-law passed me the new tenancy agreement and admitted they are aware that laptops don’t consume that much electricity, but have to listen to his mother. Do your landlords also ask you for extra money for using a laptop charger?” she asked.

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Netizens’ Reactions

After reading the incredulous list of dos and don’ts, many netizens were understandably left enraged.

Many netizens reacted to the post with the “Angry” react on Facebook as well.

In the comments section, several users expressed that they would simply refuse to continue renting from the landlord if the landlord tried to impose such restrictions on them.

There were also a handful of netizens who commented that the user should publicly post the landlord’s address so that others can take note to not rent from them, but others pointed out that doing so might cause a breach of the landlord’s personal data.

Apart from that, there were also commenters who asked how the tenant managed to tolerate such behaviour and restrictions from the landlord, given that the landlord has clearly been outrageous in their requests.