THE Housing Board will conduct routine inspections and seek feedback from residents and tenants to enforce a new rule on sub-letting.

It yesterday reminded owners that those who do not comply with the rule face a $3,000 fine.

Those who repeatedly fail to comply could also have their flats seized by the board.

Responding to queries from The Straits Times, an HDB spokesman said those who sub-let their flats without registering with the board will be guilty of ‘unauthorised use of the flat’.

The HDB announced on Tuesday that owners of flats will have to register with the board within seven days of renting out a room.

The new ruling also requires home owners to provide a whole host of information, including details of their sub-tenant, the conditions of the sub-letting agreement, and even his job.

Other information required includes the rental charged each month, and how long the tenancy will last.

The rules apply to tenancies that begin after Feb 1. Those already sub-letting their flats have a six-month grace period to register with the HDB and provide the information needed.

The measure was announced after Parliament passed the Moneylenders (Amendment) Bill on Tuesday, introducing tougher penalties to curb the worsening loan-sharking problem.

Illegal moneylending and harassment cases have risen rapidly, with 18,645 cases reported last year, up from 11,879 in 2008 and 10,221 in 2006.

The new HDB rule seeks to better protect residents who fall victim to harassment by illegal moneylenders when borrowers who rent a room and move out give their old addresses to loan sharks.

Senior Minister of State for Law and Home Affairs Ho Peng Kee told Parliament the new rule would help trace borrowers who move from place to place to avoid loan sharks, leaving innocent new home owners or sub-tenants to be harassed.

An HDB survey in September 2008 showed there were about 45,000 flat owners who rented out rooms.

Reacting to the new rule, HDB home owner Sara Nadeson, 34, who is renting out a room for the first time, said she would comply.

She said she does not want unpleasant surprises, such as the dreaded O$P$ – loan shark shorthand for ‘owe money, pay money’ – spray-painted outside her home.

Others, however, felt the detailed information they will have to supply the HDB made the new rule too onerous to comply with.

Some said they were willing to risk the $3,000 fine if their tenants were friends or people they knew well.

The owner of a four-room Jurong flat said: ‘My tenant is a personal friend, and I have confidence that he will not get me in trouble as a result of loan-sharking activities.’

However, the HDB spokesman cautioned home owners against taking a cavalier attitude to the new rule.

Mr Baey Yam Keng, an MP for Tanjong Pagar GRC, said it would ‘complete the chain of information’ needed by the authorities to crack down on loan shark activities.

Sub-Tenant Details required

NEW information required by HDB of flat owners who sub-let rooms:

Source : Straits Times – 14 Jan 2010

HDB flat owners who sub-let rooms in their flats will, from next month, have to register with the Housing Board within seven days of doing so.

They are also required to notify the HDB when they renew or terminate the sub-letting of rooms, and when there are changes to their sub-tenants’ particulars.

While there has been no need to seek prior approval for sub-letting of rooms, the latest move supports ongoing efforts by the Home Affairs Ministry to eradicate loan-sharking activities, and comes amid changes made to the law to better deal with the problem.

The HDB noted in a statement yesterday that some people used their old addresses to borrow from loan sharks while they rented a room in another HDB flat.

This resulted in the new occupiers of the flat being harassed by loan sharks instead, while the borrowers were untraceable as they moved without updating their addresses.

‘Through this new rule, HDB will be able to capture the particulars of those who rent rooms in HDB flats. With information on the addresses of owners and subtenants, the Ministry of Home Affairs will be able to trace the movements of borrowers,’ the statement said.

In Parliament yesterday, Associate Professor Ho Peng Kee, who is Senior Minister of State for Law and Home Affairs, said the move will make it harder for borrowers to remain untraceable when they rent a room in an HDB flat.

In tandem with the HDB’s move, the National Registration Act and Immigration Act will also be amended to empower the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority to obtain information from the HDB to administer and enforce the new requirements more effectively.

Source : Straits Times – 13 Jan 2010