2 months ago, Singaporeans got to know of a particularly distressing episode between a landlord and his tenant at Bedok Court.
Apparently, the landlord has been owed 17 months in rent and tried to evict them many times. Unfortunately, his attempts were futile, and both parties even called the police on each other.
In a latest development to the incident, the tenant – infamously dubbed the ‘East Coast House Tyrant’ by Chinese media – once again refused to leave.
This time, they were sent a lawyer’s letter. Unfortunately, they were alleged to have ripped the lawyer’s letter up after receiving it.
According to Shin Min Daily, the unit that triggered the longstanding landlord-tenant dispute is located at Bedok Court, along Bedok South Ave 3.
Businessman Mr He, 60, who owns the unit, told reporters that the tenant had signed a one-year lease around mid-2019, with a monthly rental of $4,000.
Unfortunately, once the tenant moved in, they never paid rent, said the landlord.
This has been ongoing for at least 17 months, with around $70,000 owed.
Mr He decided to take his case to court a while ago, though there were delays presumably due to the impact of the Covid-19 outbreak.
The court eventually ruled in his favour, and the verdict was out on 8 Dec.
He showed Shin Min Daily reporters court documents dictating that he and 2 other plaintiffs had won the case. In addition, the tenant will also have to pay $2,000 in court fees.
A lawyer’s letter was sent to the tenant, stating that they had until 5pm on 24 Dec to move out.
But sadly, Shin Min Daily reports that the letter was torn up on the spot.
Mr He pointed out that after failing to collect rent for the first 6 months, he was willing to give the tenant a chance to move out and waived all rental fees.
But the tenant apparently ignored it. According to Shin Min Daily, Mr He can only write to the court for a Writ of Possession to protect his rights.
Singapore Legal Advice states that a Writ of Possession allows an enforcement officer of the court to ensure full compliance with the court order, in the event that a tenant is unwilling to comply.
The officer will then be able to seize items belonging to the tenant to recover the debt owed.
Shin Min Daily also spoke to Mr He’s lawyer, who pointed out that if the court order does not mention that the plaintiff can repossess the house, the landlord must apply for an estate repossession order through the court to do so.
It’s truly unfortunate that Mr He had encountered a tenant that has given him much distress.
We’re unsure why his tenant refuses to move despite being told to multiple times — we can only assume there’s good reason as we don’t know the other side of the story. Otherwise, it is an offence to act in contempt of court.
We hope the tenant will eventually obey the court order and move out. In the meantime, Mr He will simply have to seek further legal recourse in getting the tenant to comply, or to repossess the house.
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Featured image adapted from Google Maps.
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