While house owner Low Ban Lai wanted S$2 million in compensation following the receipt of eviction notice from his landlord, he settled for S$200,000 – abruptly ending the court fight with the landowner on Monday (24 April), reported The Straits Times.
Notably, Low’s house in Mandai is one of the 37 terraced houses built on land owned by Ong Tiau Seng and five others around 1960. Low bought the house for S$10,000 in 1962, but pays a monthly ground rent of S$20 until 2005.
Meanwhile, Ong’s son, Beng Tit, acquired part of the land between 1976 and 1984. He sought to evict the tenants, starting with Low, whose unit had been vacant for years as the latter had moved to one of his children’s house.
When served with a notice of termination of tenancy in 2014, Low said the termination was unlawful as there was no tenancy agreement. In fact, he produced a handwritten contract to prove that Ong’s father had agreed to let him stay there permanently. Ong’s forensic expert, however, cast doubts on the document’s authenticity.
In claiming for S$2 million, Low’s lawyer said the compensation should allow Low to acquire a replacement house on freehold land.
Ong, on the other hand, claimed that the invoices produced by Low – to show the renovation costs for the house – were faked.
“The plaintiff has always been fair and reasonable in wanting to compensate the defendant a sum of S$85,000 to give up his dilapidated and presently uninhabitable house built almost 60 years ago,” said Ong’s lawyer.
Low agreed to hand over the Meng Suan Road house to Ong in eight weeks, after settling for a compensation of S$200,000.
This article was edited by Denise Djong.
