The landlord's warm smile had drawn people into renting a room with her.

But for the nearly 16 tenants of a HDB flat along Anchorvale Road, it was as if they had lived with a completely different person.

In an interview with 8world on Friday (March 18), a Malaysian man said he moved into the flat on the sixth floor with his brother on Feb 15. Besides the monthly rent of $800, the pair also placed a $800 deposit for the room that they found through Facebook.

However, things started to go south after the man signed on the dotted line.

The 29-year-old alleged that the landlord, would "supervise" his every move inside the house. There were also many strange house rules, such as restricting showering time to five minutes and not allowing him to turn on the lights at night.

"She also falsely accused me of being an illegal immigrant. She didn't relent until the police came to confirm my identity," the man said.

The last straw came when the man's landlord claimed that she was selling the house and requested that he move out at the end of March.

After he moved out on March 13, the man asked for his deposit to be returned but claimed that she refused and threatened to call the police.

After sharing his experiences on social media, the man found out that there were nearly 20 people who had similar experiences with the same landlord.

He also discovered that the woman had posted the same advertisement on social media to look for new tenants.

Speaking to Shin Min Daily News, another previous tenant recalled how the landlord would add more rules to the tenancy agreement that was previously signed. 

The 23-year-old, who was living with his girlfriend, said: "One night, she suddenly turned off the washing machine, saying that we couldn't do laundry at night as the noise would disturb the neighbours, so I had to wash the clothes by hand."

Another tenant told 8world that the landlord would come up with excuses when she was being asked to return the deposit. 

Appealing to the authorities to take action, the man said: "Is it possible to prevent her from renting out a room? Don't let her make money this way through all the contract loopholes." 

The landlord's response

In an interview with 8world, the landlord alleged that her previous tenants had been working together to "create fake news" against her and there were no such rules. 

She claimed that her tenants had violated their lease agreements and she went to court with one of them. 

The woman said: "The tenants violated the lease and made me spend more than $9,500 to renovate the house, but their deposit was less than $1,000. Even the judge told me not to return a single cent to them.

"I have rented rooms for about 20 years.There are indeed a few tenants who always break the lease and have tried to cheat."

Tenants who are experiencing disputes with their landlords can contact the Singapore Mediation Centre for help. 

ALSO READ: Tenancy tips for those with nightmarish landlords and horrible housemates

chingshijie@asiaone.com

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