Secretary for Administration and Justice André Cheong Weng Chon, who is also the spokesman for the government’s top advisory Executive Council, has announced that the government has finished drafting a bill that proposes new civil procedures aiming to enable landlords to evict tenants who refuse to pay their rent and move out, within a shorter period of time than now.
Cheong made the announcement during a press conference at Government Headquarters on Friday. The bill will be submitted to the Legislative Assembly (AL) in due course for debate, review and vote.
The bill proposes amendments to eviction rules listed in the Civil Procedures Code.
Cheong pointed out that some landlords are affected by the situation where their tenants “intentionally do not cooperate”, with the aim of avoiding paying their rent, rendering it difficult for the landlords to recover rent arrears.
Cheong noted that the current civil procedures on eviction take a relatively long time, because of which the affected landlords are unable to repossess their units within a “reasonable” period of time.
Consequently, Cheong said, the government has drafted the bill after referencing Portugal’s current eviction rules.
According to Cheong, the bill proposes more streamlined civil procedures on evicting defaulting tenants. According to the bill, the affected landlords will be able to benefit from the updated procedures if the tenants are at least five months behind in paying their rents and the landlords have notified the tenants in writing about their failure to pay rent.
According to Cheong, only landlords who receive their rent payments by bank account transfer will be covered by the proposed streamlined procedures.
Also addressing Friday press conference, Legal Affairs Bureau (DSAJ) Director Leong Weng In noted that according to the current civil procedures on evicting defaulting tenants, the affected landlords are required to hire a lawyer, and they are also affected by a relatively long procedure, while the bill proposes that it will not be mandatory for the landlords to hire a lawyer to tackle the issue.
Leong also said that after assessing the matter the government has concluded that the newly proposed procedures could be expected to take the affected landlords six months to evict defaulting tenants, about one year faster than under the current procedures.
Secretary for Administration and Justice André Cheong Weng Chon (right) and Legal Affairs Bureau (DSAJ) Director Leong Weng In look on during Friday’s Executive Council press conference at Government Headquarters. – Photo courtesy of TDM
