Police are investigating a case involving Bedok condominium landlords who attempted to evict their alleged non-paying tenants. The tenants who have their lease expired along with allegedly $60,000 in debt called police to their rented condominium when landlords tried to saw open the gate of the unit on October 27.
The tenants have allegedly refused to leave and settle obligations and have been involved in a similar case in 2017 and were mandated by the court to pay $100,000 to their landlords on the East Coast.
The tenants have allegedly been living at the property for 15 months.
What happened between the Bedok tenants and their landlord?
According to a report by Lianhe Wanbao, a 60-year-old businessman who identified himself as their landlord said they owe over $60,000 and have refused to leave or settle the amount.
The tenants allegedly signed a one-year lease in July 2019 and only paid one month of rent. Whenever he tried to get payment from them, he said that they allegedly made up different reasons for not being able to pay.
One of the reasons that the tenants reportedly gave the landlord was that their money was tied down overseas and can’t be sent to Singapore. Another reason was that they have millions confiscated y the Monetary Authority of Singapore. They also expressed the desire to buy the property from the landlord, allegedly.
Aside from the reasons, the tenants have claimed that they had spent $200,000 in renovations due to leaks and other problems. The landlord said that the family inspected the unit before they moved in and had not made any complaints about the condominium’s condition.
Escalating conflict
Thanks to the back-and-forth between the tenants who refuse to leave and the landlord pressuring them to pay or vacate, the tensions have risen.
The elderly businessman said that he had visited them time and again to ask for payment but they refused. He admitted to locking the front gate with a metal chain to scare them.
The family did not care for what the landlord did, and called the police while asking a locksmith to open the property for them. The locksmith reportedly said that the had never encountered such people in his 19 years in business.
The report also said the tenants shot the landlord and his cousin with water from a hose and kicked the latter. Afterwards, the police were called.
Both the landlord and the tenants have used the police in various situations against one another.
Reporters allegedly saw the tenants speaking to police officers when they went to interview the family.
The family declined to speak to the media.
Serial squatter?
Netizens were quick to point out that despite the family not being named, the latter figured in a similar report in 2017 for not paying rent. The case in 2017 involved several terrace houses and bungalows in the East Coast area according to Lianhe Wanbao.
The same tenants were forced to fork over the unpaid rent then told by the judge to add a $100,000 settlement on top.
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