Disputes With Ex-landlords----PART I

Further to my previous post written on the disputes between my ex-landlords and us? Let me share with you our stories here. 

I am writing down everything which has taken place for the past week up until today. With all the text messages exchange between the landlord and us. 

The story is lengthy and I will post it into 3 different posting.....

We rented a condominium at Ara Hill Resort Condominium located at Ara Damansara, Petaling Jaya, for 2 years started from November 2012 to 31^st December 2014.

The landlords are :-

1     TAN AI CHIN (660901-10-6878)

l      LEE YUE MING (631122-06-5365)

Mr. Lee was a real estate agent (he had resigned 2-3 years ago according to Reapfield when I wrote them a complaint letter to solve the disputes).

Madam Tan Ai Chin is a Head of Department in a bank with its headquarter in Singapore. 

An acknowledge receipt was signed by Madam Tan Ai Chin on our deposits paid to them when we rented the condo. 

Two months before the expiry date in October 2014, we informed the landlord on the termination on the lease by giving 2 months’ notice and wanted to return the keys to him on 30^th or 31^st December as our tenancy agreement expires on such date.

However, he did not agree on that and requested us to settle earlier as he will travel between Christmas up to New Year. 

On 23rd Dec, 2014, 11am, my husband and Mr. Lee Yue Ming (the landlord) met at Ara Hill Condo to check the house condition and return the house keys accordingly.  During the handover, we highlighted to him that the LED ceiling lights at the master room are borken and need to be fixed. 

We gave him all the latest and up to date utility bills attached with the official receipts. We had cleared and paid all outstanding bills.

After he checked the toilets and such, he is ok with everything in the unit. 

We return the house keys to him and with his further confirmation that he will refund the deposits to us the week after 23^rd December which he had agreed earlier.  The deposits consist of 2 months rental and 1 month utilities. 

 



 

 


We then proceed to go back to Kuantan for praying ceremony for my late uncle who passed away in October 2014.

A week later, on 29^th December 2014, we confirmed that the landlord didn’t pay us.  

We followed up by messaging him. His reply was that he found the paint tear off on walls, scratches on wooden floor and the stain on the room doors need to be repaint and sanding. Further asked us to wait for another week for quotation from the contractor. 

On 2nd January, 2015, we texted him. Again, he asked us to wait until the following week.

On 6^th January, this man texted us and informed us of the following charges:-

1) floor sanding n painting RM750

2) patching n painting walls RM350

3)painting 2 wooden doors RM600

4) purchase n install 2 ceiling lights RM200

5) Remove glass laminate RM50

TOTAL: RM1,950

It was expensive if we looked at the above stated charges. We asked why the cost to repaint the wooden has to be so high. This man told us that the cost  would be RM500 per door and the price he quoted was actually low.

My husband didn’t ask him to show us the invoice from the contractor as we trusted he had the contractor’s quotation. 

Besides, we can't do anything as the deposits are in his hand.So, my husband told him to refund the balance to us since both parties has agreed on the  so-called "quotation".

There are two points here that we insisted to demand our deposits:-

(i) all utility bills had been settled and paid on 22^nd December 2014, a day before we return the keys and house to him; and 

(ii) he insisted at the first place that he need to get the contractor to give him the quotation re repairing. so, now he had the quotation and we had agreed to pay the RM1,950. 

So, we deemed that we have the right to claim our deposit back. 

However, this MAN told us that he will only return our deposits after all touch up is completed. (??????Why???)

My husband did not agree and asked why he needed to hold our balance and most important he agreed initially that if we return our keys 1 week earlier before expiry date and he will refund our deposit earlier.

He then further texted my husband that he will only refund RM5K next week ( means the week after  6^th January) and the balance before 30^th Jan.  

We sent him another message that we had already discharged our commitments and it is the normal practice that the landlord shall return our deposits once the tenants had discharged the commitments.

He had no response.

We started to worry that he might giving us more excuses to hold on our deposit and then charging us with all “irrelevant” costs once he refund the balance to us.

On the following day, 7^th Jan, we sent him a text to follow up. In return, he texted us a very “impolite” message which is irrelevant to what we demanded. The message sounds a bit “rough” and anger, saying that he will only refund all our monies before 30^th Jan.

My husband told him in the message that there is no point arguing and since he told us the contract said 30 days (he has been mentioning the 30 days period which had stated in the contract that we had to be bound by it)^.

*** Mr. Lee, the landlord, told us that the 30 days refund period was stated in the lease agreement. We later found out that there were nothing stated in the lease agreement. 

Again, he kept silence and no further response from him.

On 9^th January after returning from Thailand, we checked the tenancy contract but we could not find any clause mentioning the 30 days refund period which he had mentioned in his message.

My husband sent him a text informing him there is no clause mentioning the 30 days refund period.  And we requested him to refund all our balance by 12^th Jan, Monday.

He didn’t reply our message and keep silence.

To be continued............