• 

  Madam Chen cleans away the paint stains on the front door of her apartment.

Enlarge

SINGAPORE: A debt collector mistook a "0" for a "1" and splashed paint on the door of the wrong home.

It was a lucky escape for the debtor, and an unlucky day for 35-year-old Madam Chen, whose front door had been "redecorated" by the debt collector.

The incident occurred on November 23rd at 4 pm, while Chen was still at her workplace.

According to Chen, she had divorced her husband 8 years ago. She now lives with her two children (a son and a daughter) in a three-room apartment at Clementi West Street 1.

Her two children were home alone when the incident took place. The smell of the paint alerted her son that something was amiss, so he went to investigate.

The debt collector had already left when the son opened the door and saw the red paint. The son immediately thought of loan sharks when he saw the paint and anxiously called his mother.

When Chen received the phone call and learned about the visit form the debt collector she quickly finished her work and hurried home.

Chen revealed that when she returned home, she discovered that the debt collector had also taped large notices near the stairs.

"I lodged a report with the police, but I still didn't feel safe. My children were frequently home alone. What if the loan shark came to splash paint on our home again and caused a fire?"

To get to the bottom of the matter, Chen and her friend called the number on the notices and talked to the loan shark.

Chen said that after she and her friend had explained the situation, the loan shark had done some checking and discovered the mix-up over the address.

Chen, a manageress, added that she "works hard to provide for her children, and [she] has never had anything to do with loan sharks."

The loan shark apologised to Chen over the phone for the mistake.