Landlady from hell? Woman evicts tenant, pulls out knife after he requests deposit back

When asked to return a tenant's deposit, this landlady allegedly pulled out a kitchen knife and said: "Why don't you just kill me?"

This incident occurred on Aug 9 in an HDB flat at Block 506B Yishun Ave 4, Shin Min Daily News reported.

A tenant had rented a room in July through Facebook, moving in to the flat on the 16th.

"After moving in, the landlord would bang on my door and scold me at 6am every morning, complaining that I dirtied parts of the house. 

"After searching on the internet, I found out that this landlord had already been 'blacklisted'," the unnamed former tenant told Shin Min.

Come the end of July, however, he was sprung another surprise — the landlord insisted that he move out, even allowing two other tenants to move in before he left.

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The former tenant then tried to get his $550 deposit back from the landlord, but the latter reportedly refused to do so.

In response, the former tenant brought in relatives from Indonesia to negotiate with the landlady, but things went south soon after.

Recalling the incident, he told the Chinese Daily: "We didn't expect the landlady to become so emotional; she rushed to the kitchen and took out a knife, saying, 'Why don't you just kill me?'"

'She didn't intend to hurt anyone': Landlord

Fearing that someone would get injured, the former tenant lodged a police report the next day, and the landlord eventually returned $530 to him.

Speaking to a Shin Min reporter, the landlord explained on behalf of his wife that they had intended to return the deposit, but the landlady was agitated after being confronted so she pulled out a knife.

"She didn't intend to hurt anyone — instead, she told others to stab her," the landlord said.

He further added that their reason for evicting the former tenant was due to his bad hygiene practices. 

Complaining to tenant's boss

However, this wasn't the only issue that the former tenant faced when renting this room.

In their agreement, a tenant would also have to provide their personal details, including the company they work at.

After he moved out of the flat, the former tenant shared that the landlady had called his company and raised concerns about his character, even asking for him to be fired.

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"Thankfully, my boss wasn't angry," the former tenant said. "Else my working life would also have been affected."

Another former tenant surnamed Yang, 21, also corroborated this claim that she contacted his workplace as well.

The landlady refused to respond to these allegations.

'They kicked me out'

Yang also shared his experience with Shin Min, alleging that he was evicted within a day.

He had moved into the flat on Aug 20 after paying a booking fee.

"The landlord was very amicable when showing me around, but once I moved in he told me to clean up the room and toilet, and even told me to buy groceries for them without giving me the money to do so.

"He even chased me out, demanding that I stop using their water and electricity."

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The landlord would also enter their rooms to switch off their air conditioner so they weren't allowed to lock their rooms, Yang said.

The next day, the landlord requested Yang pay the full rent upfront, but he didn't have the money for it and was thus evicted.

When enquired about this incident by Shin Min, the landlady was agitated and refused to respond.

Other former tenants also reportedly complained that they weren't allowed to lock their room doors, stay at home during rest days, or bring food home to eat.

khooyihang@asiaone.com