SINGAPORE: A man from the United States who had a history of not paying landlords in Singapore has been ordered by a judge to pay S$17,031.98 for legal costs and expenses alone.
Under a shell company, Anthony Thomas Price had rented a semi-detached house at Lengkong Dua from a Singaporean couple in their 80s for $7,500 a month. He and his family signed a contract to live there from May 1, 2026 to April 30, 2028.
The company, Noranth Ventures, paid for the first month’s rent as well as half of the rental deposit of S$15,000, and nothing else. From June onward, the tenant’s family lived there rent-free.
According to reporting from CNA, when the landlords endeavoured to enter the property, which they had the right to do under the tenancy agreement, they were sued by Noranth Ventures.
On Oct 7, when the ruling came out, the court found in favour of the couple and allowed them to take their home back and recover the rent they were owed. Moreover, the company has been ordered to pay S$17,031.98, plus what the landlords are owed in rental fees from June to August, with additional interest; the remainder of the security deposit; and around S$800 for outstanding utility charges.
However, the case revealed that the American renter had a pattern of renting properties, paying only at the beginning, and then refusing to pay any more, identifying the defects in the properties as his reason for non-payment. And when the owners would attempt to recover their properties, Mr Price would resort to legal means, taking the landlords to court, meanwhile staying in their homes for as long as he could.
According to District Judge Chiah Kok Khun, he found a "pattern of using shell companies to rent residential premises,” as there were two other court proceedings where Mr Price was involved.
The address of Norath Ventures is a virtual office in Paya Lebar Square, and its shareholders are Mr Price and his wife. It has a paid-up capital of $200.
Two years ago, Mr Price had used another company, this time called Bundleluxe, for renting a landed semi-detached property in Burnfoot Terrace, Siglap. He was supposed to have stayed there for all of 2024.
After being paid only for a few months, the owner of the property took Mr Price and Bundleluxe to court in February 2025, and the case has yet to be resolved.
He and his family ended up living at the property without paying rent for almost 12 months.
Similarly, Norath Ventures also rented a landed property at Jalan Selamat in Kembangan from September 2019 to September 2021, but Mr Price only paid for a month and a half, causing the owner to take legal action against Norath Ventures. The family ended up staying at the property for almost half a year.
According to the judge’s ruling, ”Price devised a deliberate scheme to rent the premises for him and his family with no intention to pay rental ... He embroiled the defendants in litigation in a bid to extend his period of unlawful occupation of the premises.” /TISG
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