Ex-property agent fined $1.16m for illegally subletting 14 private homes

A 57-year-old man was fined a record $1,158,000 yesterday for offences related to unauthorised short-term accommodation.

Simon Chan Chai Wan had illegally provided short-term rentals in 14 private residential properties to local and foreign guests through platforms such as Airbnb and HomeAway.

His accomplice, Zhao Jing, 43, was fined $84,000 for aiding him in carrying out the offences.

The properties included units in International Plaza, Robinson Suites, Claremont, Centrepoint Apartments, The Abode at Devonshire and Caribbean at Keppel Bay.

Chan and Zhao, who are a couple, were licensed real estate agents at the time of the offences, said court documents.

They were directors of two companies, HTM Solutions and HTM Management. Chan is the former director of SNS Infotech Global.

Chan would enter into tenancy agreements with the units' owners using the three firms as corporate vehicles, and then sublet the units for short-term accommodation.

Chan persuaded Zhao to be the sole tenant for two of the units. She also helped Chan to illegally sublet two other units.

From June 30, 2017, to July 2018, Chan's total revenue was $1,254,907.78.

He paid Zhao a monthly salary of $4,000 for helping him. Zhao would have received $52,000 for the period of the offences.

If they are unable to pay the fines, Chan would have to serve a jail term of 95 weeks, while Zhao would have to serve 12 weeks.

In a statement yesterday, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) said all private residential properties rented out for accommodation are subject to a minimum stay of three consecutive months.

"Unauthorised short-term accommodation with frequent turnover of transient guests not only changes the residential character of a property, but also causes disamenities to neighbouring residents."

In one of the cases, Cisco officers inspected a unit in International Plaza on April 26, 2018, and found that an Australian man and his family were staying in it for two nights.

The man had secured a short-term agreement from Chan by making a booking on Airbnb for A$811.27 (S$797).

Investigations showed that Chan had used HTM Solutions to lease the unit from its owner at $4,200 a month from March 2018 to March 2019. The tenancy agreement specified that only authorised occupants listed are permitted to occupy the unit, and that the tenant is not allowed to sublet the unit without the landlord's written consent.

Zhao, as the representative of HTM Solutions, had signed the tenancy agreement.

Chan, acting as Zhao's agent, told the owner's husband that Zhao and her child would be the occupants of the unit. Zhao never had the intention of residing there, court documents said.

Chan illegally sublet the unit from March to July 2018.

When asked if any action will be taken against the property owners, the URA spokesman referred to its website, which said property owners who fail to exercise due diligence to safeguard their properties against misuse will be held responsible.

"Owners are also urged to regularly check on their properties to ensure that they are not rented out by tenants for short-term accommodation," the website said.

Zhao's mother, who wanted to be known only as Madam Lee, 66, said she was shocked by the fine.

Speaking to The Straits Times in their Hougang flat, where she lives with Chan, Zhao and their four-year-old daughter, the housewife said: "I didn't know what was going on. I told them they could sell the house (to pay the fine), but they said it wouldn't be enough."

Madam Lee added that the couple often argued about debts.