20190502 (Thu)
A lopsided tenancy agreement. What can you do? Part 1.
A lot of people have the impression that price (rental) is the ultimate make or break point for a tenancy deal. True it is – if the tenant is just to get a place to stay.
For example, a group of labourers. They just want somewhere they can sleep and take shelter. To them, it is cost. You might have some leaking in the parking lot, it is okie. They might not even have any car.
For most, you do NOT want to have a house which is leaking right? Who is to pay for the damages due to leaking? You would be careful with the matching of the price with the quality of your house.
Now, renting a furnished house. It would surely have a lots of other things to consider beside just the price (rental). Earlier on, we had a case of furnished house for rent, and the new tenant requested for a TV in the master bedroom. If upon delivery of vacant possession, the TV given is an old junk rather than the expected flat screen TV, what can you do?
This falls between what was agreed upon the moment you offer to rent. If you have offered to rent with specific terms, then these terms should be drafted in the tenancy agreement – a flat screen TV to be added to the inventory.
Now, the problem we commonly see in practice is a lopsided tenancy agreement. Therefore, if you are a clever tenant, you should do the below:
1. Have the terms of agreement written by yourself, to be given to the agent/landlord and you keep a snapshot of it. (You can do this in WhatSApp or Email, as you will keep a record of it.)
2. Ask to read the draft of the tenancy agreement before putting your booking fee (with terms).
Tomorrow, we will continue this.