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It appears that the Midview City landlord-tenant drama that made headlines recently has another twist: The ‘landlord’ charged with illegal sublet has responded to his tenant’s allegations.
The man, who is accused of lying about owning and entering the unit, had obtained the owner’s verbal consent to sublet the space, he told Lianhe Wanbao.
He also claimed that he had only pushed his tenant’s wife when he was being drowned.
The man’s tenant, Don Tan, had criticized him in a Facebook post yesterday (December 2), writing that the former had physically assaulted his wife and three-year-old son on November 21.
Tan also alleged that the man broke into the office on November 22, punched holes in the wall, installed his own lock, and stole his surveillance camera’s memory card.
After discovering that the man was not the owner of the property, he signed a lease with the rightful owner, Tan said.
Defending himself in an interview with The Chinese Evening Daily, the man, who remains unidentified, admitted to shoving Tan’s wife. However, he denied biting her.
“That woman kept pulling on my neck. I pushed her because I was choking and couldn’t breathe,” he said.
[[nid:511205]]He also maintained that he was never notified that his agreement with the original owner had ended.
He has not been able to contact his landlord or Tan, and only learned of the firing after the altercation with Tan’s wife, he said.
The man continued to deny the illegal sublet allegations, claiming that his landlord had verbally agreed to sublet the space.
“Even if you want to terminate the lease, you must communicate with me correctly. You must not go behind my back to sign a new agreement with the new tenant.”
The man also denied having stolen Tan’s surveillance camera memory card and claimed that he entered the office on November 22 as its legal tenant as he had not been notified of the termination.
He even called the police after seeing Tan open the office door, the latter related to the newspaper.
However, the ‘landlord’ eventually left the office after Tan showed police officers at the scene documents stating that the man’s lease had been terminated.
The man is currently under investigation in connection with a case of willful harm and a case of theft, police confirmed.
Tenant living in office space, says ‘landlord’
He had only visited the office on Nov. 21 for verification as he had not been able to reach Tan, the ‘owner’ said.
He also had suspicions that Tan lived in the office. “At that time, I saw a refrigerator and a mattress. Obviously, there were people staying there. I have a responsibility to ensure that the unit is not used illegally.”
