WITHOUT a proper contract, tenants have little recourse if their landlords throw them out.

Industry insiders said a written contract with clear terms and conditions is essential when it comes to tenancy disputes.

Mr Mohd Ismail, 46, chief executive of PropNex, explained that several conditions are needed for a valid contract.

These include having the intention to enter a contract, an offer (the rental amount), an acceptance of the offer, and a deposit.

One must also have the capacity to legally enter into a contract.

In the case of the teenage tenant, he said: "There is no contract because in Singapore, a person needs to be above 21 years of age in order to enter a contract."

Mr Mohd Ismail said the older tenants would also find it hard to pursue their cases because there was no written agreement.

"If everything is verbal with no written terms and conditions, you can argue until the cows come home," he said.

Mr Peter Low, a senior lawyer at Colin Ng and Partners, noted that under the law, tenants are entitled to "quiet possession" - in other words, to remain without interference or disturbance from the landlord.

He qualified that there were certain exceptions, such as if the tenant was engaged in unlawful activities.

However, in this case without a written agreement, there was "not much effective redress" for the tenants.

Expensive to sue

Mr Low said: "You can sue the landlord but it's going to cost a lot of money, at least $2,000.

"That's a lot of money given that they pay $190 each for their monthly rent, so it may not be financially feasible."
Mr Eric Cheng, 34, CEO of ECG Property, had the same view.

Verbal agreements are "common" in Singapore because some tenants are here only short-term and do not want to be tied down, he said.

He added: "Tenants should check if their landlord is the actual owner because the landlord could be subletting the unit to as many tenants as possible to cover his or her costs.

"The tenants are taking a risk because the landlord could easily go missing."

His advice for tenants is to seek ownership proof such as property tax or HDB letters.

In addition, he suggested that short-term tenants pay their rent on a weekly or daily basis to minimise their financial
loss if their landlord evicts them without returning their deposit.

Mr Ismail suggested that apart from having a clearly defined contract, the tenancy agreement ought to be officially stamped.

He said: "Paying stamp duty to the Government says that these terms are agreed upon and official."