The alleged action of a Malaysian landlord in increasing the rent of their rental home has left many netizens confused, let alone the tenant who is facing the higher monthly rental.
Get this, the tenant claimed that his landlord suddenly increased the rent after the tenant had installed an aircond unit at the house using his own money!
“Rental rates for homes with aircond are different”
As shared by @_mlikr on X (formerly Twitter), the Malaysian elaborated on the predicament he’s facing with his landlord.
@_mlikr asserted how he had first asked the permission of the landlord before installing the aircond unit at the rental house, to which the landlord agreed.
However, just after the aircond unit had been installed, @_mlikr claimed that his landlord suddenly increased the rent because “rental rates for homes with aircond units are different”.
He shared,
“This landlord is funny, we offered to install aircond without asking them a single sen. Suddenly, they increased the rent because ‘rates for homes with aircond units are different’.”
“Not only do we pay for monthly electricity bills, we bought the aircond. Now suddenly our rent has increased because there’s aircond.”
Landlords can’t arbitrarily change the tenancy terms
In the replies to the X post, many Malaysians sympathised with @_mlikr‘s situation and criticised the landlord for their alleged arbitrary action.
One commenter said that if the landlord wants to increase the monthly rental due to the aircond, they must bear the cost of purchasing and installing the unit.
Meanwhile, another commenter couldn’t help but find humour in the absurdity of the situation, especially with the ‘logic’ behind the landlord’s alleged actions.
Besides that, one commenter asked whether the Tenancy Agreement between @_mlikr and the landlord is still valid because if it hasn’t expired, the landlord can’t simply change the terms as they please.
So, what do you guys think of the whole situation? What would you do if you’re in the tenant’s situation here?
Share your thoughts with us in the comments!
Also read: “Family from hell” – M’sian Tenant Leaves Landlord With a Whopping RM21K Electric Bill