Yishun condo 'landlady' arrested for pointing knife at prospective tenant seeking return of S$1,000 deposit

A husband-wife pair decided to show up at a condominium unit in Yishun on Nov. 10 evening to get their S$1,000 security deposit back from a 45-year-old woman.

Even though the woman was not the owner of the unit, the couple referred to her as the "landlady" because she had advertised online that the unit was available for rent.

However, negotiations allegedly did not go well, as the landlady was said to have demanded for the couple to leave while pointing a knife at them, reported Shin Min Daily News.

The wife, 47, was in turn accused of cursing, kicking, and scratching the landlady.

After the man alerted the police, officers arrived at the scene and arrested the landlady for criminal intimidation.

The wife was also asked to assist with police investigations for voluntarily causing hurt.

What happened

Speaking to Shin Min, the husband, surnamed Chen (transliteration from Chinese), shared that he hails from China's Jiangsu province.

The 41-year-old said he has lived in Singapore for around 10 years and has been renting the entire time.

On Oct. 13, Chen saw an advertisement on an online forum stating that a unit with four rooms and three bathrooms was available for rent.

As the unit's monthly rental was S$4,200, almost S$1,000 cheaper than Chen's current rental, he reached out to the landlady at 9pm.

Landlady looking to 'transfer lease': Chen

In her response to Chen, the landlady apparently claimed that another tenant sublet the flat to her, reported Shin Min.

"She told me that she can transfer the lease to me as long as the owner of the flat agrees to it," said Chen.

After going through photos and videos of the flat the landlady sent him, Chen was satisfied with the deal and transferred her a deposit of S$1,000.

Yet to return deposit

However, a week later, the landlady allegedly informed Chen that their deal was off, as the flat owner did not agree to the lease transfer, reported Shin Min.

According to Chen, it appeared that the flat owner disagreed because the landlady's lease had only started a month ago.

"It's alright for the flat owner to disagree, so I asked the landlady to return my deposit. However, she still hasn't paid me back to this day," lamented Chen.

Chen shared that at first, the landlady cited reasons such as "she was busy", "restrictions due to the transaction amount", and "she needed money to pay rent and tuition" to justify the delay.

A screenshot of his text message conversation with the landlady showed that when Chen said he also needed the sum to pay for his expenses on Nov. 1, the landlady asked him "not to rush her".

She also added that she "wanted to pay him back as soon as possible" but would need to "find ways to gather enough money first".

Dispute escalated on Nov. 10

After four weeks of failing to get their money back, Chen and his wife arrived at the landlady's unit on Nov. 10, claiming that the landlady had agreed to their visit, according to Shin Min.

However, after chatting for a while, the landlady allegedly "became emotional" and began "hitting and kicking" Chen's wife, the man said.

"She also chased us away and threatened us with a knife. In response, I alerted the police immediately and left the scene following police's instructions," Chen claimed.

Chen recorded the supposed physical altercation on camera and showed the footage to Shin Min.

In the video, the landlady, who was dressed in a white dress, could be seen holding a knife while speaking to someone on the phone.

Chen's wife could be heard cursing at the landlady in the background, reported Shin Min.

Landlady's side of the story

However, Chen's account was refuted by the landlady, who claimed to Shin Min that it was Chen's wife who insulted her after barging into her flat with Chen.

In response, she asked the couple to leave, but Chen's wife "refused to do so" and even "began to assault her".

When asked why she decided to pull out the knife, the landlady said:

"The two of them were tall and strong, and my child was terrified [of the situation]. I did not know what to do, so in the moment of desperation, I pulled the knife out to protect myself and my child."

The landlady added that she had since underwent an examination for her injuries.

According to Shin Min, the video taken by Chen captured audio that resembled the sound of crying children.

'Never refused to return deposit': Landlady

The landlady also denied that she had ever refused to return Chen his deposit, reported Shin Min.

"Since the beginning, I had never said that I would not be returning the sum to him. It was his wife who was rude to me first by calling me a scammer and hurling offensive remarks at me," she added.

To support her claims, the landlady also showed Shin Min a conversation she had with her father, which indicated that she requested him to transfer S$10,000 for "an emergency".

The landlady said she would apply for a protection order for herself and her child following the incident.

However, she declined to comment further, citing ongoing police investigations.

Police statement

In response to Mothership's queries, the Singapore Police Force confirmed they received a call for assistance regarding the incident at around 7pm on Nov. 10.

Police officers subsequently seized the knife used by the landlady as a case exhibit.

Police investigations are ongoing.

Top images via Shin Min Daily News & Google Maps