Our country needs a "tenants credit bureau"

From: Zanzibar
Date: Fri, 12 Jun 2009 01:32:41 -0700 (PDT)
Local: Fri, Jun 12 2009 4:32 pm
Subject: Our country needs a "tenants credit bureau" to safeguard the country

Inusrance agent making use of the renting of rooms to spy for
business.

Recently a male insurance agent from AIA in alexandra building phoned
my friend to find out if their common room is still available for
rent.

The phone number that he called on his mobil phone was found to be
from the insurance office in AIA in Alexandra Road.

He asked briefly about the renting of room and the rent of it. He then
probed to ask if the owner of the flat is young or old.

He asked about their age. He also asked about if the flat has any
young children or not. He first side-swinged by asking if the flat has
any other tenants in other common rooms.

When asked who is he, his reply was that he was a accountant and he
was making enquiries for the renting of a common room for his male
friend who is a financial planner consultant with AIA.in alexandra.

He said his insurance friend is a Malaysian and a PR and is looking
for a room to stay. When asked why he wanted to know so much about how
old is the owner, he could not explain.

And when asked why he wanted to know so much as what is the profession
of the owner and how many people is staying in the flat, and if there
is children and their ages, if any, this accountant man then kept
quiet, and then in replying he said his friend wants to stay with
young family.

He could not reply when asked why his friend being a insurance agent
was able to speak and talk was not able to make his own enquires by
himself. He was told off that no agent had ever called to ask so much
of it.

Finally, he put down the phone, when he could not explain it. A action
plan will now taken on this man by bringing it up to his boss on it.

This man also could not reply when asked why did his AIA friend
working in AIA alexandra wants to find a room so far from his
workplace which is in Alexandra instead of CCK.

Seriously, our HDBs are now infested by tenants of spies and conmen,
and some tenants are even using the renting of rooms as their illegal
business.

They move from flat to flat, or the changing of room to room with
detrimental dangers to flat owners. The short tenancy period created
by proeprty companies have created a high turnover of the renting of
rooms and renting of flats.

The property companies in Singapore have created a problem for the
benefit for themselves in that housing agents in Singapore tell flat
owners that it is common practice that tenant can rent room, usually
up to one year lease.

However, their termination on the room can be from either
side ,between owner and tenant, can be minimum of stay period of 6
months, or in most cases there was no minimum stay period at all.

This is allow either party who may not adjusted to live with each
other to quit on each other. And so either side of them can temrinate
the lease with a one month's notice, even after the tenancy agreement
was signed a day ago.

This means that tenants with "illegal intention" in renting the room
with flat owner can cause undue worries to the family of the owner and
the public security at large to the country.

This is because tenants can keep changing of rental of room after
rooms, and new owner is not able to identify them if they are tenants
with good references or not.

So it is important that a "tenants credit bureau" should be enacted to
allow flat owner to check up the history of renting of rooms or flat
by these tenants.

By this way, owners of flat can look out for those frequent room
changers so that they can protect their family and children from
dubious tenants with "bad intention" to the family and "illegal
intention" of "spying the family in the flat", in this country.

It's time for the Government or the flat owners to set up a "tenant
credit bureau" to check up how many times these " tenants" have
changed their rooms or flats, or condos.