Tenants give landlords 'electric shock'

Troublesome betul tenant kat Malaysia ni! In fact my family has this bad experience years before with those lousy tenants of our old house. Even my landlord auntie is also having bad experience with her tenants until now.

They lived in our house for a year without paying any rental. We received several warning letters from utility departments to cut off the supply. On humanity basis we helped them to pay and asked them nicely to get out. Yet they asked for another short stay with all those kind of excuses so and so. This was history and a good lesson-learnt.

So, as the next generation of landlords, let us gear up for the next stage. Have a good control of our properties. On top of location, location and location, do equip ourselves with knowledge, skills and monitor, monitor and monitor. Sayang bang orang buat main harta kita!

By JOSHUA FOONG/The Star Online
joshuafoong@thestar.com.my
 
PETALING JAYA: It is a case of “electric shocks” of a different kind for houseowners.
They are residential landlords left to foot large amounts of power bills, amounting to tens of thousands of ringgit in some cases, not settled by tenants who have moved out.

The landlords are helpless as they are held responsible by Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB), and cannot re-connect supply for new tenants or sell their homes without paying the bills.

Many are blaming TNB for their predicament, saying the bills would not have surged to such high figures if the utility company had been strict and cut off supply to errant consumers at the early stages.

The largest unpaid power bill reported to the MCA Public Services and Complaints Department was RM47,483.93!

“And this case concerned a residential property. We have not even touched commercial premises yet,” said department head Datuk Michael Chong.

He said his officers had received 29 reports of such cases since 2008, with unpaid bills amounting to RM216,348.48.

“This is just the tip of the iceberg. Many cases could have gone unreported. I am just as curious to know why TNB allowed the power bills to reach such extravagant sums,” he told The Star.

Several online forums confirmed that the problem was widespread, with many residential property owners expressing frustration with their tenants’ unpaid electricity bills.

“It can be years that tenants did not pay, and it’s unusual that TNB did not cut off the power supply even though the outstanding amount hit four figures. Many (owners) just pay up and forget the whole issue,” commented a consumer who lives in USJ.

Businessman Stanley Sien, 50, said he had to deal with “a recalcitrant” tenant who did not pay rent for a house in Puchong for almost a year and accumulated utility bills totalling RM6,640.34. The power bill alone came up to RM5,774.38.

“What’s worse, the tenant was a TNB employee. When I asked a TNB customer service officer why they had allowed the outstanding amount to balloon, she said the employee could have reconnected the supply on his own.

“She said there was nothing TNB could do to help me,’’ he added, showing the bill that he finally had to settle with TNB.

“There was no progress despite me waiting for many months. I spent RM16,000 repairing the damaged house to rent it out again. I had to pay up in order to get TNB to reconnect the supply,’’ he added.

Lawyer C.V. Devan advised landlords to pursue legal action against defaulting tenants.

“Just sue them. The landlord will most definitely have a strong case because there is a tenancy agreement that the case can fall back on. For cases amounting to less than RM5,000, there is the Small Claims Court where one does not need to hire a lawyer,’’ he added.

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The 10th Malaysia Plan (10MP)

Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak on Thursday outlined five key strategic thrusts under the 10th Malaysia Plan (10MP) to enable Malaysia become a high-income and developed nation by 2020. You can read the executive summary here (Malay Version).

My time does not permit me to read and understand the plan blueprint thoroughly yet. The followings are just a few excerpts from the summary:

• Pendekatan pembangunan di bawah RMKe-10 akan memberi keutamaan meningkatkan keselesaan hidup di bandar sebagai tempat yang sesuai untuk tinggal, bekerja dan beriadah, melalui inisiatif seperti
  pembangunan kluster baru, menaik taraf pengangkutan awam serta pembangunan semula. Bandar raya Kuala Lumpur dan kawasan sekitarnya (Greater KL) akan dimajukan sebagai bandar bertaraf dunia.
  
  
  

  Najib also said that in line with the "Greater Kuala Lumpur" NKEA (National Key Economic Area), the government would further enhance the public transportation network in Kuala Lumpur with the implementation of the high-capacity Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system.

  "When completed, the system is expected to cover a radius of 20km from the city centre with a total length of about 150km, and when fully operational, will serve up to two million passenger trips per day from the 480,000 trips on current urban rail systems," he said.

  Alhamdulillah, my home is just within 20km radius from the city centre, right at the border. Hope to see some improvement in urban living with the expectation of high quality environment for those areas within the radius.

• Memperluas dan mempertingkat kekayaan Bumiputera bagi memastikan pemilikan secara kekal dan berterusan, berdasarkan pendekatan penggemblengan dana dan pemilikan aset melalui institusi termasuk hartanah.
  
  
  

  Insyaa Allah will strive for it.

• Prestasi pelajar akan diutamakan dengan meningkatkan kecemerlangan guru dan akauntabiliti guru besar dan pengetua.
  
  
  

  Thinking of Ummi, Aiman and.... teacher and student.

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The View of A Mosque from A Mosque @ Putrajaya

The picture was taken at Masjid Sultan Al-Mizan, Putrajaya (Masjid Besi) using my old Sony Cyber-shot T9. I love this water and tiles reflection as well as its natural frame. In the frame are Masjid Putra, Seri Wawasan Bridge, Putrajaya Millennium Monument, Perdana Putra and government complexes.

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Senamrobik @ Taman Desa Indah Family Day 2010

Thanks to Bro. Jai for this nice video. Terkinja-kinja sekejap.

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Safety tips: What to take to bed with you

Got this useful tips again thru email from my neighbour. Good to share!

What to take to bed with you - not a joke.
Pretty neat idea. I Never thought of it before.

Put your car keys beside your bed at night

Tell your spouse, your children, your neighbors, your parents, your Dr's office, the check-out girl at the market, everyone you run across.. Put your car keys beside your bed at night.

If you hear a noise outside your home or someone trying to get in your house, just press the panic button for your car. The alarm will be set off, and the horn will continue to sound until either you turn it off or the car battery dies. This tip came from a neighborhood watch coordinator. Next time you come home for the night and you start to put your keys away, think of this: It's a security alarm system that you probably already have and requires no installation. Test it. It will go off from most everywhere inside your house and will keep honking until your battery runs down or until you reset it with the button on the key fob chain. It works if you park in your driveway or garage. If your car alarm goes off when someone is trying to break into your house, odds are the burglar/rapist won't stick around. After a few seconds, all the neighbors will be looking out their windows to see who is out there and sure enough the criminal won't want that. And remember to carry your keys while walking to your car in a parking lot. The alarm can work the same way there. This is something that should really be shared with everyone. Maybe it could save a life or a sexual abuse crime.

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