How Best To Settle Tenancy Disputes
As a property manager you deal with tenancy dispute issues and disputes on a daily basis. This workshop is designed to assist you to better manage those matters. Landlords and tenants don’t really have much to dispute. Not getting the toilet fixed for 6 weeks is not a dispute. You are just a bad landlord. Taking a tenant to the tribunal because they have punched holes in all your walls is not a dispute. They have broken the terms of the lease and must leave. No dispute. No need for you to enter into that negotiation. Let the authorities take care of that for you.
Tenancy in Singapore is usually governed by the tenancy agreement, agreed to by both the tenant and the landlord. The Housing and Development Board does not mediate in case of dispute. Mediation should be attempted at a Community Mediation Centres first.
If a problem arises at any point in the tenancy where you find yourself reaching for your signed copy of the lease, things are probably too far gone for what it says on paper to matter. Things are probably going to be sorted out by a magistrate with or without your intervention. The magistrate is not really interested in the fine detail of the lease. On the one occasion I took a tenant to the tribunal the magistrate did not even turn one page of my specially prepared lease. He just made his ruling and out I walked to wait another 21 days before I could get the sheriff to ride in on his big white horse. Learn more about Singapore legal advice here.
