Hearing and determination by rental relief assessor
27.—(1)  A rental relief assessor must, when carrying out his or her duties or exercising his or her powers under these Regulations, act independently, impartially and in a timely manner.
(2)  A hearing is generally to be held in an asynchronous manner by exchange of email.
(3)  However, a rental relief assessor may direct —
(a)the hearing be held via video conferencing, teleconferencing or other electronic means; or
(b)the parties to attend before the rental relief assessor for a hearing,
if he or she is of the opinion that the interest of justice would be better served if the hearing is held in the manner mentioned in sub-paragraph (a) or if the parties attend before him or her for the hearing.
(4)  A rental relief assessor may —
(a)issue such directions as are necessary or expedient for the conduct of the hearing; and
(b)allow a party to amend that party’s application for an assessor’s determination or response, as the case may be.
(5)  A rental relief assessor may permit a party to be accompanied by an interpreter at the hearing.
(6)  A rental relief assessor may at any time adjourn a hearing or fix a date for a further hearing.
(7)  A rental relief assessor may dispense with a hearing and make a determination solely by reference to the forms and documents submitted by the applicant to the determination, if the rental relief assessor is of the opinion that those forms and documents are sufficient for the rental relief assessor to make his or her determination.
[S 835/2020 wef 30/09/2020]
(8)  The applicant must serve the assessor’s determination on every other person mentioned in section 19M(6) of the Act by the prescribed mode of service.
[S 835/2020 wef 30/09/2020]