Broken furniture, lingering cat urine odour: Tenants leave man's condo in unrentable state

One man claims that he is struggling to pay for his condominium after his former tenants' inconsiderate behaviour left it in an unrentable state.

Financial consultant Xu told Shin Min Daily News that he rented out his newly purchased three-bedroom unit at Riverbay in Kallang for $5,000 a month in October 2022.

The terms of the two-year lease stipulated that keeping pets in the apartment was not allowed. 

But in May 2023, only eight months into the lease, the tenant — a mother who was staying there with her young son — suddenly informed Xu that they were moving out.

After the handover, he was shocked to see the condition of the apartment.

He found furniture broken, scratches on the sofa and chairs, as well as cat urine stains on the floor and kitchen stove.

There was also a strong stench of cat urine — proof that the tenants broke the house rules and kept pets in the home.

"I contacted two cleaning companies who told me that the maintenance and cleaning fees alone amounted to $10,000," Xu said. "This did not include the cost incurred to buy new furniture."

Not only that, Xu also suspected that the unit was sublet to another tenant — another breach of the contract — as he'd found a letter addressed to a name he didn't recognise in his mailbox.

Xu told Shin Min that he hoped his story can be a cautionary tale to other landlords.

Interested parties left after viewing the unit

Xu, who had only lived in the condo for half a year before deciding to rent it out, said that calls to his ex-tenants have gone unanswered.

Xu said he'd previously questioned why his ex-tenants wanted to rent his condo, even though they already had a home in Punggol at that time.

The mother had told him that as her son goes to a school in Kallang, they wanted to relocate to the new place for his convenience.

He added that even though they had paid two months' rent as deposit, it was still not enough to cover the cleaning fees and repairs.

Xu also accused his tenants of damaging the rubbish chute last January by throwing down a heavy item.

He only learnt about the incident through the condo's management office.

A year after his rental nightmare, Xu said he is struggling to find new tenants for his condo unit.

Xu told Shin Min that interested parties had viewed his unit but left without enquiring about the rental price.

He added that cleaning companies had told him that the lingering odour of cat urine is hard to get rid off.

Stating that the lack of rental income is hurting him financially, Xu said: "I need to pay about $5,560 for the monthly loan instalments and management fees.

"The tenants breached the contract by moving out early. And with the house damaged like this, I don't think I can rent it out for now."

ALSO READ: 'You're torturing me': Property agent warns against renting to students after 'horrible' West Coast condo handover

chingshijie@asiaone.com