American tenant refuses to pay rent, sues elderly owners of Kembangan landed property who want house back
An American man living in Singapore refused to pay rent for a semi-detached property he rented in Kembangan, yet sued its elderly owners when they attempted to re-enter the house.According to a judgement from Oct 5, the applications made by Anthony Thomas Price were dismissed by District Judge Chiah Kok Khun who said he had "devised a deliberate scheme" to rent the home without intending to pay rent.The tenancy agreement was made by Price using a Singapore-incorporated private company with paid-up capital of only $200, with himself and his family as directors.The company was also the applicant of the claim.Chiah argued that Price had a pattern of "using shell companies to rent landed properties in Singapore for his family to stay and not paying rent" and embroiling defendants in litigation "in a bid to extend his period of unlawful occupation" of the homes he rented."In my view, the claimant’s applications are filed in plain abuse of process of the court," he added.The counterclaim the elderly homeowners in their 80s made against Price was also allowed.