Singapore – A landlord who took to social media to complain about a tenant who breached their rental contract was slammed by netizens for rigid rules such as not being allowed to cook anything but Maggi mee.
On Sunday (June 7), one Clement Chia posted in Facebook page Complaint Singapore of her “Nightmare from Elms Street” tenant who is allegedly a 28-year-old female Malaysian Chinese “with high education.”
According to Ms Clement, their tenancy agreement stipulates no cooking anything other than simple Maggi mee and no using of the air-conditioning beyond 8.5 hours a day for sleeping. She noted that the tenant would cook other food and use their expensive kitchenware. “Caught her using it and she never bothered to wash it,” she complained.
“Today, I found her frying egg, and she said egg also cannot,” shared Ms Clement. “I said no in future only Maggi mee.” She added that the tenant didn’t listen to her warning and continued frying when she left the room.
The landlord complained that due to the aircon being set at 18 degrees and the heater at the maximum level when bathing, their walls have become mouldy and damp. “She doesn’t do area cleaning, ants keep crawling into her room, and I already put a lot of ant killer combat outside her room,” said Ms Clement.
Her tenant would frequently order online and won’t meet the delivery personnel at the door. She would also leave the toilet dirty, said the landlord. “The worst part is, I found out she used my toothpaste and Listerine,” said Ms Clement after noticing that the latter’s toothpaste stayed in the same spot which meant it was unused.
“We cannot ask her to go as well as we need the extra income,” shared the landlord who hoped the Government would provide more protection for Singaporeans against “nasty tenants.”
Her post, with over 800 comments, received mixed reactions from netizens, most surprised at the strict rules being imposed. “From the terms that you mentioned, it seems like you are a hard to please landlord,” said Jerry T. Lim. He noted that the current situation made it difficult to only eat Maggi mee, especially for those who worked from home. Many commented that they would not sign a contract with such stipulations.
A few suggested a simple solution of cancelling the contract if the landlord was that “fussy.” Trevor Lee commented that Ms Clement could enforce a penalty for violating the rules or look for another tenant.
Meanwhile, Sharifah AJ, who was a fellow landlord herself, understood the situation clearly and sympathised with Ms Clement.
Fauzi Azzhar made a point of being kind to one another because this could go a long way when it comes to landlord-tenant relationships. He shared how he extended kindness to his tenant who, in turn, remained responsible and clean.
They even became friends during the Circuit Breaker period. “If the tenant ends up living with a landlord that’s just like her parents, then she must be annoyed and trying to rebel,” said Mr Fauzi. “As landlords, yes we are in charge, but you must treat them as if you are a hotel chain because they are the ones paying.” He advised Ms Clement not to put herself in such misery and get a new tenant if things don’t get better.
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