On 25 May, a 52-year-old Singaporean woman, Jayanthi Ponnasamy Manian, was fined over S$175,000 by a court for unlawfully renting out three units to guests for short-term stays on Airbnb for almost three years.
Ms Jayanthi rented out her self-owned units on Kinta Road in Little India on Airbnb without permission from authorities. However, she stopped the rentals at the end of 2021 after Airbnb had informed her that it was illegal.
The judge ordered a fine of over S$175,000 from her, deducting approximately S$32,700 for water, electricity, and refuse collection.
Failing to pay the fine will result in her serving eight months in jail by default.
On Saturday (25 May), Ms Jayanthi pleaded guilty to renting out her three self-owned residential units on Kinta Road in Little India via the vacation rental platform Airbnb for three years without permission, as reported by Channel News Asia (CNA).
Between June 2019 and February 2022, Ms Jayanthi out her three units 489 times for short-term accommodation, without obtaining planning permission from the authorities as required by the Planning Act.
During this period, she advertised her units of Airbnb to get customers.
She provided directions for guests on how to check in and check out, which included taking keys and an access card from unlocked letterboxes and returning them when checking out. She would then receive payment via her Maybank account.
Ms Jayanthi also had her sister do housekeeping tasks after guests checked out.
Towards the end of 2021, Ms Jayanthi ceased her rental activities after Airbnb told her that her providing short-term rentals in Singapore was illegal.
According to Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), accommodations of less than a three-month period is not allowed in residential properties in Singapore. Relevant permits also need to be obtained to use any of residential property for short-term accommodation.
“It is illegal for owners and tenants to rent out their properties for short-term accommodation. This includes renting them out as ‘hotels’, ‘hostels’, ‘motels’, ‘Bed and breakfast’, or ‘Homestays’ to short-term visitors, frequently done through online ‘home-sharing’ platforms.”
The URA website further explains that the reason for this regulation is “to safeguard the safety, privacy and security of homes, and the residential character of local communities”.
Ms Jayanthi rented out her three units 489 times during a period of almost 3 years, breaching this regulation.
The URA’s prosecutors demanded a fine of S$212,000 for Jayanthi; however, her defence attorneys, Mr Mohamed Arshad Mohamed Tahir and Mr Patrick Fernandez, argued for a fine of S$10,000.
The attorneys stated that around S$304,000 should be deducted for expenses covering maintenance services, mortgage and interest payments, and air-conditioner servicing for the three units.
Despite the defence’s stance, the judge limited the deduction to S$32,700 for water, electricity, and refuse collection costs.
The maximum fine for a first-time offence providing illegal short-term rentals is S$200,000.
Also read: Man Runs Illegal Rental Business At 19 S’pore Properties, Fined S$1.4M
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Featured image adapted from Google Maps, for illustration purposes only and Joyce Romero on Unsplash, for illustration purposes only.
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