how to deal with unreasonable landlord?
Been living with this landlord (70F) for 9 months. Contract ended 3 months ago but I was told I could continue staying without signing further contract if I want to.
I continued because rental rates r crazy and I prefer not to live with my parents. We got along fine at the start.
Problem is her mood is erratic and she is extremely stingy (e.g. Doesn’t allow me to boil water, complains I use too much electricity at home just because I don’t go out on weekends etc).
She has gotten even more unreasonable recently getting pissed at me because i took a few days off to study for exams, saying I’m causing her bills to surge.
Note she also went in to my room when I’m not at home (I know this because I realised my fan blade broke into pieces when I came home one time and the knob was turned to zero but i forgot to turn it off before I left).
Now I’m planning to give my one months notice soon but I’m worried she might not return my deposit. And her appliances were not in good condition before and she tries to blame me for “breaking” her stuff.
And she’s been slamming things constantly (because she’s pissed at me for being at home) and it’s been disrupting my sleep and revision. Any advice on this?
TLDR: stingy landlord might not return my deposit after one months notice is up and has been disrupting my peace.
Netizens’ comments
- Small claims tribunal. However, I’d advice just forgo the deposit and consider it back payment for the cheap rent as well as a lesson learnt.
Landlords from hell in SG are super common and personally as a life long renter, I’d advice trying to find units with no stay-in landlords. You could consider finding housemates and renting an entire unit together. That’s gonna open up another can of worms though. - you need to talk to someone experienced/familiar with the law in terms of landlord/tenant. for example, i know that wear and tear (in this case the fan) is borne by the landlord. same argument for the appliances. you wont get the right responses here unless some experienced agent will give u free consultation
- You chose not to sign new contract, so you have no standing. Best is, either forfeit the deposit or delay last month’s rent with excuses. Of course you have to make sure you have already landed a new place before then.