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Showing posts with label Tenancy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tenancy. Show all posts

Saturday 15 April 2023

Regulating short-term stays in Penang, such as Airbnb Hosts, homestays

 Stating it clearly: A banner is hung at the entrance stating the ban on short-term homestays at one of the apartments in Gelugor, Penang.ZHAFARAN NASIB/The Star

 GEORGE TOWN: Residential property investors hoping to make a killing from the short-term stay business are likely to find it an uphill task with the new regulations in place.

State local government, housing, town and country planning committee chairman Jagdeep Singh Deo said other residents would now need to give their consent to units being used for short-term stays.

“I do not think it will be easy for one to gain approval from all other residents in a high-rise building. Even then, there are limitations.

“They will need to have a general meeting and seek approval.”

Jagdeep said the Penang government has two guidelines for short-term stays – one for high-rises and the other for landed properties.

“Both guidelines were approved by the state executive council on March 8 and will now be enforced.

“We have received many complaints regarding short-term stays. Such practices disrupt the lives of other residents,” he said.

“We formulated these guidelines not to deny property owners the right to rent them out, but to regulate short-term stays.”

Jagdeep said that for stratified projects classified as residential, one must first obtain approval from the joint management body (JMB) or management corporation (MC) through an AGM, on top of complying with other terms in the guidelines.

“Serviced apartments classified as being in a commercial zone must comply as well.

“If approval is given (for the residential or commercial properties), the short-term stay must not be for more than three days per reservation.

“On top of that, each unit must not be booked for more than 180 days in a year,” he added.

Jagdeep said many residential high-rise buildings had put up banners clearly stating that short-term stays are not allowed.

“It is clear that it will be difficult for people to convince many JMBs or MCs to allow them to use their units in that way,” he said.

Jagdeep said hotels in Penang are well equipped to cater to the needs of tourists.

“We must be fair to the people and the tourism sector,” he said.

Malaysian Association of Hotels (MAH) national vice-president Datuk Khoo Boo Lim said the guidelines would help hotels.

“We are not able to stop them from operating but with rules in place, there will be no abuse.

“They will need to follow guidelines and only those who comply will be allowed to operate.

“This will definitely help hotels as the number of short-term stay units will drop,” he said.

However, the Asia Travel Technology Industry Association (Attia) urged the state government to reconsider its decision to enforce the new guidelines.

It said the new guidelines are “untested, disproportionate, and complicated”.

“The Penang Government should have considered co-regulation and self-regulation approaches, such as voluntary code-of-conduct style frameworks, which have successfully reduced noise and nuisance issues in short-term stay homes without imposing onerous requirements,” the association said in a recent statement.

Attia said most short-term stay hosts are individuals and not companies, and such individuals could be “pushed out from participating in the lucrative sharing economy”.

The association said short-term stays complement hotels by catering to “price-sensitive digital nomads and youth travellers”, and also families wanting to rent a whole house for their holidays.

Attia is an NGO representing global businesses dealing in travel and tourism in Asia Pacific, including online room and flight booking portals. 

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Friday 3 June 2022

Ex-property agent in S’pore fined record S$1.16mil for illegally subletting private homes on Airbnb, HomeAway

Simon Chan Chai Wan paid his accomplice Zhao Jing a monthly salary of $4,000 for helping him. PHOTOS: SGP BUSINESS


Chan had illegally rented residential properties such as Caribbean at Keppel Bay (pictured). — The Straits Times/ANN

 

A 57-YEAR-OLD man was fined a record S$1,158,000 (RM3.7mil) for offences related to unauthorised short-term accommodation.

Simon Chan Chai Wan had illegally provided short-term rents in 14 private residential properties to local and foreign guests through platforms such as Airbnb and HomeAway.

His accomplice Zhao Jing, 43, was fined S$84,000 (RM268,000) for aiding him in carrying out the offences.

The properties included units in International Plaza, Robinson Suites, Claremont, Centrepoint Apartments, The Abode at Devonshire and Caribbean at Keppel Bay.

Zhao and Chan, who are a couple, were licensed real estate agents at the time of the offences, court documents said.

They were the directors of two companies, HTM Solutions and HTM Management, and Chan is the former director of SNS Infotech Global.

Chan would enter into tenancy agreements with the units’ owners using the three companies as corporate vehicles, and sublet the units for short-term accommodations on the platforms.

Chan had also persuaded Zhao to be the sole tenant for four of the units.

From June 30, 2017, to July 2018, Chan’s total revenue was S$1,254,907.78 (RM4mil).

He paid Zhao a monthly salary of S$4,000 (RM12,000) for helping him. Zhao would have received S$52,000 (RM166,000) for the period of the offences.

The Urban Redevelopment Authority said in a statement that all private residential properties rented out for accommodation are subject to a minimum stay of three consecutive months.

"Property owners should also exercise due diligence to ensure that their properties are not used by their tenants for unauthorised purposes," it said.

Unauthorised short-term accommodation not only changes the residential character of a property, but also causes disamenities to neighbouring residents.” — The Straits Times/ANN 

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 Ex-agent gets record fine for illegally subletting private homes

Singapore Airbnb host hit with $845k fine - New Straits Times

Property agent suspended, fined for altering documents to earn extra commissions

 

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Friday 24 February 2017

Investing in property to let may not be a good idea



Buying to rent may not be a good idea


RENTING out a house or apartment used to be a source of income that would help to pay back the loan instalment or increase one’s available income.

Today, this is no longer a good idea, particularly for those whose income is just enough to meet their needs in the near- or short-term. This is because many people have become less honest.

Those who buy a property with the idea of renting it out may find themselves dealing with a delinquent tenant. To illustrate the situation, I reproduce part of a letter from a reader who is having sleepless nights.

“I have rented an apartment to a Bangladeshi family for a monthly rent of RM900 for several years without a written tenancy agreement. The rental payment went on smoothly until roughly nine months ago, when the tenant started delaying payment of both rental and water.

The rental and water payment was owed several months. Every time he said he would pay, but ended up not paying. He now owes me more than three months rent and more than six months water and has refused to move out, saying he needs time to find a place.

What can I do to get him out, if he continues staying without payment? People have advised me to lodge a police report and get the Rela to forcibly move him out. Is it legal to cut off the water and/or force the tenant out?”

To start with, it is legally wrong to disconnect the electricity or water. Once rented out, the tenant acquires a special kind of right to be on the premises.

A breach by him allows the landlord to terminate the tenancy. Thereafter the tenant becomes liable to pay double rent. The landlord should get a court order to evict him. I don’t think making a police report or approaching Rela will help.

This does not go very far in hel­ping the reader, but what I have to say could help readers who are renting out their property of the type referred to, or who are planning to do so.

Such a person should consider carefully whether he has sufficient spare funds if he is taking a loan. If he is a cash buyer or has resources to pay the instalments then it is fine.

This is because rent will not roll in immediately once the property is ready. There will be a need to spend time and money on putting in some basic fixtures. Time may be required to find a tenant.

In the meantime, the loan instalments will become payable and if he is unable to pay, these will add up and attract penalty interest, increasing the amount of the loan. There will be an added problem if the tenant is only able to pay rent which is less than the instalment.

So what could a landlord do to safeguard himself? The landlord should have a written agreement, and should require at least three months’ deposit at the outset and one month’s rental in advance, with the rental to be paid on or before the seventh day of each month, if not earlier.

Breach of these requirements would entitle the landlord to terminate the tenancy forthwith and require vacant possession.

Once the landlord has put himself in this position, he must monitor the payment of the rent. The tenant may pay late, but the landlord must not keep quiet. When there is a delay in payment but he pays within the month, you must give him a warning that the late payment is a breach.

The need to do this every month is important, because if the landlord allows the tenant to do this repeatedly, the law may regard this as acquiescence and a waiver by the landlord of the obligation to pay on the stipulated date.

If the tenant has not paid for two months the landlord should, by the middle of the second month, terminate tenancy and ask him to vacate the premises. At this stage the landlord has one and half month’s deposit, which allows him to have time to take meaningful action against the Tenant.

Chances are that if the landlord proceeds with such promptness, the tenant will come forward and resolve the matter.

As a term for allowing the tenant to stay on, the landlord could require the tenant to pay the legal costs. In such an event, the tenant would in future pay the rent regularly or he would leave, allowing the landlord to let the premises to another tenant.

Going to court can be costly, but the landlord should not just give up. He should approach a lawyer who can help him with the problem. Not all lawyers are out to make big profits from every client. Some lawyers will even do it for a very low fee, just to help the tenant.

Going to court will look harsh and is something that the owner may not like to do. This is because, at the point of renting, tenants project themselves as very decent and nice people who have every intention of paying the rent promptly. The issue here is: does the owner want his rent to be paid?

If the owner wants to be kind, then the tenant is likely to take advantage of him and drag on the non-payment. Of course, if the landlord is so inclined, he must be prepared to pay the price for being nice.

Law For Everyone By Bhag Singh The star

Any comments or suggestions for points of discussion can be sent to mavico7@yahoo.com. The views expressed here are entirely the writer’s own.

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Tuesday 18 August 2015

Cutting cost with 'DIY law'


Many people dread going to the lawyers as it means forking out hundreds if not thousands of ringgit in legal fees for their service.

However, Malaysians wishing to prepare uncontested wills and probate, documents on tenancy agreement, purchase or transfer of property, or even divorce petitions can be spared the dreaded trip to legal firms soon with the "Do-it-yourself law" set to become a reality, Nanyang Siang Pau reported today.

The "DIY law", which will be available free of charge online, will change the way how common legal matters can be dealt with.

According to the report, Bon Advocates, which has been pushing for "DIY law", is coming out with template agreements, allowing consumers to prepare wills and handle property purchases, loan agreements and divorces without relying on lawyers.

For example, the standard legal fee for a sale and purchase agreement for a property valued at RM150,000 is RM1,500.

With the DIY law, a property buyer can save this amount by filling out the relevant forms made available online.

Similarly, for wills, one can save between RM300 and thousands of ringgit the DIY way.

Edmond Bon of Bon Advocates told the daily that lawyers should be fighting for justice and rights of the people and not make profits from petty legal matters.

"Making wills, tenancy agreements, property purchases and transfers, etc can be done using template documents provided online, without the help of lawyers," said Bon, whose firm has been working with some law students on the DIY law on pro bono basis.

Bon said DIY law is a new concept in Malaysia, but it is common in the United States, United Kingdom and Singapore.

US and UK's Rocket Lawyer and the Law Canvas of Singapore are common DIY law, the human rights lawyer pointed out. - By The Sun Daily

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