ST : Pay$ even when you don't Owe$

10 Feb 2011,
Pay$ even when you don't Owe$

Loan sharks hound new owners of flats, even though debtor has already moved
By Tham Yuen-C & Jalelah Abu Baker

EVERY morning, Madam Vani opens the door of her flat with trepidation. Will the door still be brown, or will it have red, blue or black paint splashed on it?

These are the favourite colours of the loan sharks that have been harassing her since she moved into the Serangoon North flat in February last year.

There have been five attacks, each leaving her more furious because she has never borrowed money from them.

After the first few incidents, she learnt from neighbours that the son of the previous flat owner had borrowed heavily from loan sharks.

'There was no sign of problems when we visited the place before signing the papers. It was always very clean,' said Madam Vani, who is using a pseudonym because she fears reprisals should her real name be published.

To protect the door from paint, she has wrapped the gate outside it with plastic cling wrap. A neighbour a few doors away has done the same, and also draped his window panes with plastic sheets.

Madam Vani's family is collateral damage in the loan-shark scourge in HDB estates. These families are innocent victims who see their doors vandalised, get words scrawled on their walls, and have their gates chained, even though they have not had contact with illegal moneylenders who now want their money back.

Their plight has been highlighted in letters to The Straits Times Forum page.

In a reply to such home owners yesterday, the HDB said that it is working with the relevant authorities to prevent innocent residents from being harassed.

It also reiterated new rules that can help track loan-shark debtors on the move. Since last February, for example, HDB flat owners who sublet rooms have had to register with the board, and inform it when these tenants renew their lease or stop renting their rooms.

Speaking in Parliament in January last year, Senior Minister of State for Law and Home Affairs Ho Peng Kee revealed that less than 1 per cent of HDB households in Singapore were harassed by loan sharks.

Even then, he said, 'every innocent household harassed is one too many'.

Laws were tightened last year to penalise people who deliberately provide outdated or false addresses when borrowing from loan sharks, resulting in innocent people being harassed. Those found guilty can be jailed for up to a year.

Former loan-shark runners told The Straits Times that they continue to vandalise a unit even when a new family has moved in - or when the house owner insists he has not borrowed money - because they can never be sure that the debtor has moved out.

'They could be hiding the person in the house or lying for the person,' said a 25-year-old former runner yesterday.

Mr Mohamed Yusof Ismail, chief executive officer at Ain Society which provides remedial and rehabilitation to youths and their families, has counselled former loan-shark runners. He said that these runners merely follow instructions: 'They don't know anything about the debtors, and have no time to bother about it as they need to finish their jobs as quickly as possible.'

Members of Parliament said the loan-sharking problem has abated since amendments to the Moneylenders Act last year enhanced penalties for harassment activities. Ms Ellen Lee, an MP for Sembawang GRC, said she used to see up to two families a month who had been harassed by runners targeting neighbours or previous occupants, but none in recent months.

Mrs Lim Hwee Hua, an MP for Aljunied GRC which oversees Serangoon North, said 'the loan-shark cases are isolated to a few blocks and the police are fully aware of the residents' plight'.

In November 2009, the Serangoon Neighbourhood Unlicensed Money Lenders Watch Group was formed by residents there and the police. Businessman Patrick Ong, 42, a member, said five to 10 volunteers walk around the estate twice a month, checking for signs of loan-shark activity, like paint-splattered doors.

If they spot anything, they will report it to the police. There are up to 800 such neighbourhood watch groups here. A police spokesman said residents can help by reporting suspicious people they see.

But for some, nothing seems to have helped. Ms L. Eng, 34, moved into her three-room flat in Bedok North three years ago. There was one incident then, after which nothing happened. The harassment started again in November last year and she had been targeted five times since.

Although a CCTV camera has been installed, the runners have not let up. 'The loan shark threatened to do something to my eight-year-old daughter,' said Ms Eng, who lives with her daughter and maid.

Besides dealing with harassment, victims have to bear cleaning costs. Town councils take care of restoring common areas which have been vandalised, but victims say they have to clean up or replace doors and windows. Said Ms Eng: 'I use thinner to get rid of the paint on the door, but the front of my house is still full of paint.'

yuenc@sph.com.sg

jalmsab@sph.com.sg


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Do some detective work



A HOME-BUYER'S best bet against buying a unit from someone who is in trouble with loan sharks is simply to speak to the neighbours, said security experts.

'It's the most practical thing to do. If they say it's okay, it's got to be okay since they live there,' said Mr Toby Koh of Ademco Security Group.

Buyers can also observe the block and surrounding units for tell-tale signs.

Possible signs include repainted walls outside the unit, uneven cement on the ground which could indicate it has been re-cemented to hide paint, and doors wrapped in cling film to protect them from paint.

A buyer who finds his property is being targeted after moving in should report this to the police.

A police spokesman said the installation by police of portable closed-circuit television cameras outside HDB flats targeted by loan sharks has resulted in the arrests of loan shark runners.

Last year, 1,506 people were arrested for loansharking and related harassment, compared to 965 in 2009.

Mr Koh said the best deterrent against attack is camera surveillance because 'the runner may think twice, as he knows he will be captured on camera'.

The footage can be used as evidence by the police and can eventually force the loan shark to back off.

He added that while dummy cameras may act as a deterrent, there is no real point to them as they do not help to catch the culprits.