AS AT the end of last month, some 42,000 flat owners had registered with the Housing Board to sublet rooms.

Under a new rule introduced on Feb 1, anyone subletting rooms in HDB flats must register within seven days; those who had sublet before that date were given a six-month grace period until July 31 to do so.

This requirement dovetails with efforts by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to eradicate loan-sharking activities and protect HDB residents from falling victim to such activities.

When some people borrow money from loan sharks, they move to a new location but give the loan sharks their previous addresses.

This way, if they fall behind on payments, those living at their former addresses will be the ones harassed by the loan sharks.

The new rule enables HDB to capture the particulars of those who rent rooms in HDB flats and allows MHA to trace the movement of borrowers.

HDB may impose a penalty on those who fail to register their subletting.

The penalty could be a fine of up to $3,000, and for recalcitrant cases, HDB could take back the flat.

Source: Straits Times, 7 Aug 2010