Avodah Advocates LLC

27/02/2026

Using your home address as a registered address for your company? Take note of the obligations.

Many business owners use their residential address as their company’s registered office for convenience. However, this decision carries legal and practical implications.

Under the requirements of the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA), a company must keep its statutory registers at its registered office, and that office must be open to the public for at least three hours during ordinary business hours on each business day for inspection of records. Where a home address is used, this obligation applies to the residence.

In addition, regulatory approval is required before operating a business from a residential property. For private properties, compliance with the Home Office Scheme administered by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) is necessary. For HDB flats, approval must be obtained from the Housing & Development Board (HDB). The application fee is negligible.

What appears to be an administrative convenience should be considered carefully in light of compliance, privacy and regulatory requirements.

27/02/2026

Business Lawyers for your Business and Investments

27/02/2026

Avodah Advocates, Business Lawyers for your Business and Investments

25/02/2026

24/02/2026

Riding the Basel 3 Endgame. Over the next 5 years, you may notice banks becoming a little more careful when lending for property. This approach is attributed to global banking rules called Basel III.

In simple terms, banks must now keep more capital for riskier loans. When lending becomes “costlier” for them, they respond in a few ways.

For commercial and industrial properties, expect:
• Slightly higher interest margins (maybe +0.3% to +1% over today’s rates)
• Lower loan-to-value; instead of 60–65%, banks may be comfortable closer to 50–55%
• Stronger checks on rental income, tenancy strength and cashflow
• More preference for experienced borrowers with a track record

For residential properties, especially owner-occupied homes, changes should be milder:
• LTV limits largely similar
• Interest spreads may edge up a little
• Banks will still look closely at income stability and debt levels

To put it simply; banks will lend, but they will lend to people and projects that look steady, sensible and sustainable.

What helps a borrower today would be:
a) Lower leverage
b) Clear income proof and healthy cashflow
c) Good credit history
d) Realistic projections
e) Some buffer savings

For investors and syndicators, this means planning deals with more equity, realistic refinancing assumptions and stronger tenants.

Property financing in Singapore is unlikely to disappear. It will simply reward discipline and patience.

If you’re planning a purchase or structuring a property investment, run your numbers with a bit more caution; keep an eye on the terms to maintain bankability on your cashflow. Termsheets will be tougher, The next cycle will favour those who are prepared. So call us for Basel-resilient investment documentation.

https://avodah.lawyer

21/02/2026

He only came to us after completing the purchase of a co-living business.

The seller had represented that occupancy was stable and renewals were forthcoming. Within months of takeover, several tenants declined to renew. Feedback revealed longstanding maintenance issues; slow repairs and poor upkeep that had already affected tenant satisfaction.

New lettings also slowed. Our client later discovered that nearby construction works would block a commonly used shortcut to the nearest MRT station, reducing the property’s accessibility and appeal.

The position worsened when the master landlord informed him that the previous tenant (the seller) had failed to properly service the air-conditioning units and cooking ventilator. One air-conditioning unit required extensive repairs due to rust. The ventilator had to be replaced because of heavy oil clogging. Under the main tenancy, these maintenance obligations fell on the tenant and now, our client.

When we reviewed the sale agreement, there were no substantive warranties on occupancy, no indemnities for undisclosed liabilities, and no protection in respect of maintenance breaches under the head lease. The documentation did not allocate these risks back to the seller. The prospects of recovery were limited.

Business acquisitions; particularly in asset-light models like co-living; require careful legal and operational due diligence, as well as properly drafted warranties and indemnities.

Had we been engaged before completion, the risks could have been identified and addressed contractually, the price adjusted, or the transaction reconsidered.

Early legal involvement would have significantly reduced his exposure because we could have flagged these risks and mitigated them for him and covered his current losses in the agreement; losses to be indemnified by the seller.

How unfortunate that he didn’t come to us before jumping into the purchase.

17/02/2026

17/02/2026

Safer agreements sound legal advice cutting edge terms for strategic exits by Avodah Advocates

15/02/2026

Strategic lawyering adds value to your business and investments

15/02/2026

Strategists in Lawyering, we turn your deals lucrative and craft winning terms and insert profitable exits

14/02/2026

“There a many ways to skin the cat,” so says these thoroughbred Corporate Lawyers

13/02/2026

https://avodah.lawyer/legal-tips-in-our-blog/f/lose-ends-when-you-quit

Restrictive covenants are a familiar feature of employment contracts in Singapore. Most professionals have seen them tucked into the final pages of an offer letter; clauses dealing with non-compete obligations, non-solic...