Anyone with experience whereby initial rental Deposit paid by tenant to owner via agent. And then agent later inform owner that tenant has decided not to rent anymore.

What is the normal procedure in regards to the Deposit?

depends any agreement signed between landlord & tenant , if yes , landlord has the right to forfeit. Agent supposed to bank in the deposit to the agency's client account after both parties signed.
if nothing's signed & just verbal confirmation it's difficult for landlord to take any action.

wait. Why would tenant pay rental deposit to Agent? 

Why not in the first place Landlord give Landlord's account number for tenant to pay for it via banking? 

Some owners would rather not deal directly with tenants... everything go through agent.

I have heard of an agent helping owner to collect monthly rental (cash) and deposit into owners bank account. This is what i call "after sales" service!

@domng 

I think that is rare case. 99% of agents failed to collect rental or do such service for landlord. If you can get the rare agent, lucky you! 

Is the agent with REN?

Are you asking whether tenant can back out from a deal or suspecting the agent misappropriate the deposit? 

I'm a responsible agent who provide the rental collection services which subject to commission on monthly rental.

How much is the commission to do that? Does it include fixing all the issues in the house?

10% monthly rental for rental collection only, please clarify further for your issues in the house. Thank you!

@joe_oonhongyu great that you're but like I said, its rare. So you must be the gem amongst landlords. How long is your experience as agent? I'm thinking of renting out my Ascencia, and if you can find a proper tenant with background checked, I don't mind give you the 10% of monthly rental, with condition contract period must be met. 

Usually, I will inform landlord about the tenant's background before letting the property. Based on market practice, 1 month commission is applicable upon renting out a property. In addition, I will charge 10% of monthly rental if collecting rental on behalf of landlord. There is no guaranteed that the tenant will rent the property until tenancy expiry. However, I will try my best to filter the tenant during initial stage.

By right rental collection is for property management right? REN can't do it right?

@nicky_esh if the deal goes through agent/agency, tenant is usually requested to bank in the deposit to agency's client account. this is to ensure in case any dispute between landlord and tenant, deposit still with the agency, to be fair to either party.  

the agency client's account is being audited yearly by the board, and agency is answerable to any hanky panky transaction/account. for piece of mind , do check with MIEA or the board to verify the agency via (E)number, call up the office or even walk in. landlord / tenant needs to carry out own due diligence to ensure money is in safe hand.

@Zoe_Ong maybe by right it should be like that, but honestly speaking, only based on my condo here, rental via agent, but landlord holds the deposit & tenant directly band in to landlord's account. That's what confusing me. 

if both side signed the offer to Rent, then the deposit is not refundable... depending on where is the current stage of abortion, (if tenant had signed the OTR and the owner had yet to put a signature on it, then the money had to be refunded to the tenant) as we can only bank in the money into the Client Account when both parties signed the agreement.

@imronaldsoo 

In the case of OTR signed and deposit forfeited because tenant wish to abort ... how is the commission payable to the agent? Split 50/50 between owner and agent?

@domng thanks for sharing