Landlord rented his place to a restaurant owner and shocked to discover 18 people living inside

SINGAPORE: A landlord rented his house to a restaurant owner for the accommodation of his employees. He thought that only seven people would be staying in his place, but was shocked to discover that a total of 18 people were living in it.

The 35-year-old owner shared with Shin Min Daily News that his house has a living room and a hallway on the first floor, two bedrooms on the second floor, and three bedrooms on the third floor. He admitted that since he was living abroad, he asked a real estate agent to find tenants for the place. 

“A restaurant owner happened to be interested in renting it and claimed that he would arrange for about seven employees to move in, but the exact number was undetermined,” he claimed. With this, the real estate agent informed him that the restaurant owner had signed the contract and paid two months’ deposit. 

However, when he decided to make a surprise visit to the place, he discovered that it was a mess, and it looked like many people had been living there. According to his observation, there were five backpacks in the living room on the first floor, and three bed frames were placed in the hallway. 

Furthermore, one room on the second floor had four single bed frames and one bunk bed frame, and the other room had two bunk bed frames. On the third floor, he figured that one room had two folded mattresses, and another room had more mattresses. He also caught someone sleeping. The final room had three mattresses and some women’s clothes and underwear hanging by the window.

After his inspection, he declared: “I was very surprised. I roughly estimate that there must be at least 18 people living in the unit.” The real estate agent then questioned the person in charge of the restaurant, who refused to move out and just stated that “an employee brought a friend to stay.” 

The owner of the house demanded that the tenant move out, but they insisted on receiving an eviction notice first. The owner reported the incident to the authorities, got the necessary documents, and ordered the tenants to vacate the premises. 

When contacted, the restaurant owner admitted that they had emptied and cleaned the place. It was also stated that the employees had been relocated to other accommodations. 

Other related news

In separate news related to someone’s home, there was a report where a teenager with gambling problems recently stole money from his neighbour’s apartment in a very inconvenient way—by climbing up from the kitchen window. 

The young boy committed theft at least five times in the past months, stealing approximately $900. 

Read more about the story here.