Landlord’s remedies for breach of contract by tenant – Room rental in Singapore
Room rental in Singapore – The most common breach of contract by a tenant is the failure to deliver rent when it is due. The remedies of the landlord in such a case are as follows:
- The landlord may sue the tenant for the arrears in rent. The action must be brought within six years of the date that the arrears became due.
- If there is a forfeiture clause in the tenancy, the landlord may re-enter and re-possess the premises and evict the tenant.
- The landlord may choose to evict the tenant through the legal process. It will involve the landlord applying to the Court for a Writ of Possession to repossess the premises and evict the tenant. This is a legal order that forces the tenant to leave and allows the landlord to take control of the property. The law requires that the rent must be at least 2 months outstanding before such an application is allowed.
- The landlord has the option to apply to the Court for a Writ of Distress to seize goods to the value of the rents owned, provided the outstanding amount claimed does not exceed 1 year’s rental. Once the write of Distress is issued, the Court will direct the sheriff or bailiff to enter the premises to seize the goods in the premises to the value of the outstanding rent. If the tenant fails to pay within 5 days after the seizure, the goods will be sold by auction. Certain things like his personal clothing, bedding and tools for his business cannot be seized for room rental in Singapore. The proceeds from the auction sale can be used to offset the claim amount.
Another common breach of contract by the tenant is the premature termination of the lease of room rental in Singapore. Under Common Law, the landlord shall mitigate his losses by using his best endeavour to find a replacement tenant and may thereafter claim for all his losses and damages as follows:
- If the lease remains empty for a certain number of months after the breach, then the landlord would have suffered a loss of $X in rent.
- If the new rental from a replacement tenant is lower by $Y compared to the previous rent, the landlord would have suffered another loss of $Y for the rest of the term.
- If the landlord has to engage a salesperson to look for a replacement tenant, the landlord would suffer another loss of $Z in the form of commission paid.
- The landlord may use the security deposit to offset against all the above losses. If the losses exceed the security deposit, the landlord may choose to make a legal claim through the Court for the balance.
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