Hi worryman,

1. "not stated in the tenancy contracts" = your tenancy agreement has loopholes, advise to redo it in the future.

2. from experiences in managing properties, tenants do sometimes request to offset security deposit. Under normal circumstances is not an advisable thing to do as surely some fixtures like lightings, power plugs, etc will need some sort of repairs/replacements due to long duration of rental unless of coz you as the owner doesn't mind the small repair fees on those things as an act of goodwill and/or the tenant has been upkeeping the unit in tip top condition for you.

3. In reference to you summarize Q2, dont do that! M'sian legal system takes too long to deal with these kind of small issues and normally would incur more cost.

What i can suggest is that if they really being a pain and insist of not paying you the last 2 months rental, then you should visit the unit one month before the agreement ends to fully inspect the unit. Make note of all costs the repairs (if any) and calculate the total. At the same time tell them to furnished you the latest utility bills which are all settled with no outstanding amounts.

As i assumed you would have retain half a month of utility deposit (depending on your monthly rent amount) and without any outstanding bills. This utility deposit will act as a buffer for you to deduct the repair costs.

But coming back, it is still not advisable to go this route. Only resort to this when the tenant is nonnegotiable.

Hope this helps.

it's their right to request, but you can reply with "yes" or "no".