Just looking for some general thoughts from anyone who’s dealt with joint rentals in Singapore.
I was sharing a place under a joint tenancy where the lease only stated the total rent to the landlord, not how it was split between co-tenants. We had our own informal way of settling payments, but nothing was written into the contract.
Due to a sudden change in circumstances, I had to leave Singapore before the lease ended. I let the flatmate and agent know and tried to find a replacement, including speaking to agents and being open to paying commission and forfeiting my 2-month deposit. A potential replacement did come up at a slightly different rent, but viewings depended on the cotenant who stayed in the unit. The cotenant became hostile and refused to provide viewing times for the new prospect / replacement tenant and obstructed the process of finding a replacement.
The landlord's property agent mentioned to me that I am in breach of contract despite the fact that the remaining tenant paid the rent in full and hence the landlord has not suffered any loses, which then seems unreasonable to say I breached the contract and that he won't entertain any requests from me when I asked to mediate to provide viewing times of the flat - and seems to have sided the remaining cotenant.
The remaining cotenant has now filed a Small Claims Tribunal case against me, asking for several months of rent, agent fees, and other costs, saying I didn’t meet my obligations while she/he continues to pay the rent in full cause she/he refuses to leave the flat. Moreover, the remaining cotenant has escalated things by harrassing me and doxxing, worsening my condition while im on hospital leave, making the flat untenable for me even if I returned after my medical leave.
Not asking for legal advice, just hoping to hear from others who’ve been through something similar:
- In a joint tenancy, can one cotenant really claim future rent from the other if the lease doesn’t spell out a split? The remaining cotenant in question unilateraly keeps paying the full rent to the landlord despite being adviced to end the lease while the landlord was open to end it early and just keep the deposits.
- How does SCT usually look at efforts to find a replacement when access depends on the person still living there? If the remaining cotenant blocks all efforts to find a replacement.