'Went crazy': Landlord accuses tenant of owing 6 months in rent, fighting with her

Accused of owing months in rental arrears, a tenant got into an altercation with her landlord after the latter changed the lock to the unit overnight.

Police were also called in, after the tenant attempted to barge into the F&B unit located along Geylang Road, reported Shin Min Daily News. According to the landlord, the tenant had owed six months in rental arrears and the locks were changed as a last resort. 

The incident reportedly occurred earlier this month on July 4.

According to a report on Saturday (July 29), the owner of the eatery, surnamed Zhang, shared that she'd started her grilled fish business in September last month but ran into financial difficulty in April.

Zhang reportedly sought the landlord's understanding on the delay in payment of rent for the month but added that she eventually paid them back.

Zhang claimed that since then, however, the landlord has tried to make things difficult for her.

For example, the landlord had allegedly changed the lock on the door in May and put up a sign saying that Zhang was late in paying her rental arrears and would not be allowed to continue her business.

Things were only resolved after she called the landlord and agreed to pay a fee for the door to be unlocked.

According to Zhang, when the landlord did it again in July, she got a locksmith to open the door. But the landlord and his wife turned up at the unit a few days later and forbade Zhang from opening her shop.

"When I wanted to open the shop, the landlady grabbed my arm and refused to let go. The landlord even took a wooden stick and held it against my neck, preventing me from opening the door," Zhang alleged.

Zhang added that operators of the neighbouring units intervened in an attempt to de-escalate the situation and the police were also called in.

Zhang, who shared that she has been running a business for more than 20 years, admitted that she had been late in payments but denied owing months in arrears.

She stated that she'd also paid the landlord interest on the amount owed and didn't understand why the owners had evicted her. Zhang also shared that as business was poor, she has had to get financial help from her family in China which accounted for the delay.

'I have no reason to make things difficult for her'

When interviewed by Shin Min however, the landlady, identified as Mary, stated that Zhang had owed six months in rental arrears and was late in paying the monthly rent of $12,000 on three occasions. 

"She gave all sorts of excuses, such as business was poor, or that she needed to wait for money to be remitted from China," Mary claimed. Mary stated that they had resorted to going to the shop daily for a month to collect rent from Zhang but reverted to a monthly collection as it was too troublesome.

Due to these issues, Mary obtained a court order prohibiting Zhang from entering the shop.

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Mary told Shin Min: "We own several shop units that are rented out. The other tenants have always paid their rent on time and we've maintained a good relationship with them. My only aim is to collect rent, if Zhang had paid on time, I have no reason to make things difficult for her."

Mary claimed that they were the ones who called the police that day, alleging that when the shop was eventually opened, Zhang "went crazy and barged into the shop". "She was eventually handcuffed and taken away by police," Mary alleged.

Despite footage which showed a man holding a wooden stick standing in front of Zhang, Mary denied that they had a stick with them, nor did they hold it to Zhang's neck.

When contacted by AsiaOne, police confirmed that they had received a call on July 4 at 2.05pm and that a 52-year-old woman had been arrested for public nuisance. Investigations are ongoing.

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candicecai@asiaone.com

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