Renter promised a room, but got a ‘box’ instead

 

khmal Sani paid RM300 for a partitioned room, one of 12, equipped only with a bed and locker.

PETALING JAYA: Ikhmal Sani knew the moment he arrived at the shoplot that he had been scammed.

The room he agreed to rent for RM300 a month in Manjung, Perak, turned out to be nothing more than a partitioned space with no ventilation and only had a bed and a locker.

The entire floor was partitioned into 12 rooms of different sizes.

It was completely different from the room that was promised to the 23-year-old. The room was much bigger in the picture that was shown to him by the landlord.

As he was residing in Terengganu at the time, he could not personally inspect it and agreed to rent the room based on the picture.

Ikhmal needed a room in Manjung because he had to be there for seven weeks to complete his clinical placement. He chose the room during an online search because it was walking distance to his work place.

Low Chun Kiat stayed in an apartment that had its living room illegally renovated and partitioned, leaving only a small corridor (right).

“It was like living in a box. The room was extremely hot but I had to endure it for seven weeks,” he told FMT, adding that he did not bother to look for another room as he had already paid the deposit.

“The landlord also counted the rental period from the date I paid the deposit, which was two weeks before I moved in,” he said.

Ikhmal is among the many victims of such scams, some of which have gone viral on social media.

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Unlike Ikhmal, Low Chun Kiat knew he would be renting a partitioned room in Damansara as he wanted to be near the production company where he would be interning.

However, he was not aware that it had been illegally partitioned.

Partitioned rooms are legal if they adhere to safety measures.

“The four-bedroom unit in the small condominium had two partitioned rooms which were originally the living room,” the 22-year-old said.

Lawyer Derek Fernandez said renters must sign a tenancy agreement that include a clause stipulating that the owner has complied with the laws related to the properties.

The agreement, which should state that the landlord is liable if it is a false statement, must also get stamped for it to be admissible in court.

“But even if you don’t get it stamped, a written document containing a signature is good enough,” Fernandez, who has chaired various working committees in relation to local government, town and country planning as well as land law, said.

He also said the contract guarantees the rights of tenants by protecting their “life, health and safety” and that the owner could be held liable if negligence could be proven as the cause of any accident.

Fernandez said the public could lodge a complaint with the local councils if they find that any building had been renovated without getting approval. - FMT