Issue 321

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 CONTENTS FROM THE
EDITOR
Welcome to the 321st edition of the
Singapore Property Weekly.
p2 4 Types of Tenants from Hell and How
Hope you like it!
to Deal With Them Mr. Propwise

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 SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 321

4 Types of Tenants from Hell and How to Deal

With Them
By Property Soul (guest contributor)
Try again.If you have been a landlord before,
you would agree with me that having no
tenant is still better than having bad tenants.
As the saying goes, being single is far better
than being stuck in a bad relationship.

Another tenant from hell

Last month I went for a haircut with my usual

hairdresser and opened a can of worms by
mistake.
Whats the biggest headache of first time How long do you want to cut at the back?
landlords?
Around 1 inch.
A slow economy? Soft market? SIBOR rise?
Bad agent? No tenant? Sure.

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 SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 321
Are you still staying at Jurong East? I
shouldnt have started this. It was all my fault.
No, Ive moved to Toa Payoh did I tell you
that I finally bought a flat?
Congrats! Its nice to have your own place.
I have a spare room so I decided to rent it
out.
Good to have a tenant helping to pay the
loan.
Thats what I thought too. This young guy
coming for flat viewing has good manners
and a decent job. Whats more, he didnt
bargain about the rent.
Thats good. Its difficult to find a good
tenant, isnt it?
You are right. Its only after he moved in that
I realized what a big mistake Ive made.
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Thats how the new landlord started the
endless complaints.
Since he didnt bargain, I agreed to pay for
the utility bill. But whenever hes at home, he
turns on the aircon at full blast. When he
takes a shower, he leaves the water running
non-stop for at least 20 minutes.
Never mind the fact that his room is a big
mess. But my living room, corridors and
kitchen are all fully stuffed with his personal
belongings. Its difficult for anyone to move
around the flat.
I felt my hair at the back being trimmed from
left to right. Then the pair of scissors moved
again from right to left.
Hes like a 10-year-old leaving behind left-
over food, used utensils and dirty clothes,
waiting for others to clean up after him.
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 SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 321
Dirtying and messing up the place are his
routine. Cleaning and tidying up become my
duties.
My tenant enjoys listening to music and
watching TV at the loudest possible volume.
Not to mention his friends who like to visit any
time of the day
As my hairdresser continued to whine, I felt
another round of trimming from left to right.
Oh no, save some of my hair!
I think its enough
Enough? Ive had enough. I put it clearly in
the contract that rent must be paid on the last
day of every month. But he has never been
punctual. He has a different excuse every
time. You know I am the one who pay for the
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mortgage, management fee, utility bill, cable
TV, WiFi
The scissors went non-stop and I could feel
more hair has gone.
Could you stop
I cant just stop the contract. Its one-year
fixed. To be honest, I cant even stand him for
six months!
By the time the grumpy landlord was finally
done, I lost at least five inches of my hair.
I really cut a lot this time. The hairdresser
said this while looking at my hair on the floor.
Yeah. I think I dont have to come back for a
few months. Thanks for helping me to save
money.
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 SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 321
Solutions to tackle common types of
difficult tenants
Many first-time landlords think its a simple
thing to buy a property and lease it for
passive income. What they fail to see is: The
moment their role changes from an owner to
a landlord, the problems have just started.
I have been a landlord since 2002 and have
my fair share of experiences handling difficult
tenants. Below are four types of tenants from
hell commonly found in Singapore:
1. Tenants who like to bargain
They want to pay the lowest possible rent but
need a king-size bed, a 3+2 sofa set, a 43-
inch LED TV and a new washer-dryer.
They ask for 30 percent discount of the
current rent to renew the rental contract, but
can only commit on a month-by-month basis.
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Sounds familiar?
Which landlord is not complaining about
declining rentals and rising vacancy rates
these days? Who is to blame for too many
newly-TOP projects and too few good
tenants?
Solution: Knowledge is power. Check theURA
website for recent rental transactions in the
same condo or nearby projects. Use it as a
neutral fact for negotiation.
Ask potential tenants to prioritize their
requests. Consider any ask with a valid
reason.
Keep rental properties in tip-top condition.
With strong competition, poorly maintained
properties are only giving tenants excuses to
bargain for lower rent.
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 SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 321
2. Tenants who attract complaints
Ever receive any complaint about your tenant
from a neighbor or the management office? It
can be making too much noise, or cooking
curries too often.
On the other hand, some tenants have a
tendency to call their landlords every other
week for all sorts of things unfriendly
neighbors; how-to-use problems; aircon/water
heater/light bulb/door lock not working
Solution: Whatever the cause of complaint
about or from your tenant, landlords have the
responsibility to settle them immediately.
Gather all the facts and find out the source of
the complaint. Have a trusted property agent
to act as the intermediary.
File and pass to the tenant the instruction
menu of all the appliances in the property.
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State clearly in the rental contract that the
tenant is to be responsible for all minor
repairs and routine maintenance of the
premises not exceeding $150.
3. Tenants who are always late
When landlords check with tenants for late
rental payment, replies can range from I
thought I had paid to sorry I forgot, let me
check with my company, very busy lately,
currently out of town or having financial
difficulties.
Whatever the excuse is, once the tenant is
allowed to slip payment once, it is very likely
to become a repeated offense.
Remember: The most important task of a
landlord is to collect the rent from the tenant
on time. Any late or missed payment will
directly impact the ROI of the property.
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 SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 321
Solution: I have an article in my book No B.S.
Guide to Property Investment on How to
avoid late or missed payments from tenants.
Ask tenants to settle rent by automatic
transfer. Payment by cheque must be sent 5
days in advance. For multiple property
landlords, standardize payment date on the
1st or 15th day of the month.
Allow a grace period of 5 days before sending
a reminder. Remember to mention interest
charged on late payment (12 percent per
annum for rent unpaid for longer than 7 days
or as specified in the contract). Never let any
tenant get behind rent for more than 30 days.
4. Tenants who break rules
The landlord thinks that his property is leased
to a single or a couple, only to find out later it
has been partitioned into 5 smaller units to
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sublet to 10 other tenants.
Or the tenant may want to make some pocket
money by listing the rented flat in Airbnb for
short-term stay of foreigners traveling in
Singapore.
According to URAs rules on renting out
private residential properties, it is against the
law to rent out a private property (including a
room) for less than 6 months on a daily,
weekly or monthly basis. Any partitioning to
create more rooms in a rented flat is illegal.
Each occupant must have at least 10 sqm of
space. The maximum number of occupants in
a residential unit is 8.
Solution: Always check the passport,
employment contract, business registration,
etc. of new tenants to avoid housing illegal
immigrants.
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Specify in the contract to disallow
unauthorized subletting or alteration without
written consent of the landlord. Also state that
if the tenant uses the property for subletting,
alteration or illegal activities, the landlord will
exercise immediate eviction.
Keeping trouble-making tenants at bay
The above are not isolated incidents and can
happen to any landlord. Prevention is better
than cure. We would like to believe that most
tenants are good ones. Thats why it is the
responsibility of landlords and their property
agents to screen that one percent of black
sheep in the rental market.
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Before signing up a new tenant, always
conduct a thorough background check
employment letter, credit report and
references from the previous landlords.
One last thing: If your tenant has broken any
rule in the contract and you need an eviction,
sooner is better than later to get rid of him
before he can do further damage to the
premise and the ROI of your property.
By guest contributor Property Soul, a
successful property investor, blogger, and
author of the No B.S. Guide to Property
Investment.
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