Victims of an abandoned Residential development in Serendah are now asking for assistance from government officials after the contractor failed to fulfil its obligation since 14 years ago.
One of the buyers told the media that they had paid a downpayment of 10 percent or around RM30,000 to the property developer in 2003, but it discontinued the project.
However, the home buyers were informed by the authorities that the development cannot be regarded as having been abandoned as the licence of the contractor is “dead”. This means it can only be categorised as a “late” development.
This technicality has thwarted the victims from buying another house using funds from their Employers Provident Fund (EPF) account. Moreover, the property developer has not yet refunded their deposits.
Subsequently, the buyers have created a committee and submitted a complaint to the Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Ministry as well as other relevant agencies, but no action has been taken yet.
According to the Housing Ministry, they intend to meet again with the committee to discuss possible solutions to their problem.
A spokesperson from the ministry also advised the victims to file claims for late delivery of houses via the Tribunal of Housing and Strata Management. If the amount involved is over RM50,000, they should file a case with the civil court.
“This case seems quite big. It is best if we can have an appointment with the victims, then we can properly help them,” she said.
Meanwhile, the tribunal’s primary function is to resolve disputes and agreement between home buyers and a licensed developer as intended under sub-section 16N(2) Housing Development (Control and Licensing) Act of 1966 [Act 118].
Image sourced from Getty Images
Diane Foo Eu Lynn, Senior Content Specialist at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact her about this or other stories email diane@propertyguru.com.my