House buyers in a quandary over land titles

Source: http://thestar.com.my/metro (By FAZLEENA AZIZ, 2/2/2010)
BUYERS of houses in Taman Fadason Phase 3 in Kepong, Kuala Lumpur, are in a limbo due to problems pertaining to the land title for their properties.

Businessman Yong Cheng Mun, 37, wants to sell his house but is unable to do so because of the caveat. Yong said he was unaware of the problem when he bought the house three years ago.

“I asked the developer, who told me to wait because they had a case. I feel frustrated being left in this situation, without the land title to my own home,” he said, adding that he did not know how much longer it would take before the problem was resolved. According to the Schedule G of the sale and purchase agreement, the lot is encumbered by a private caveat lodged by a company as security for the loan granted to the vendor. In the company’s letter to Yong, it is stated that the original title and withdrawal of private caveat form are held by its solicitors as stakeholders pending full payment of the redemption sum due to it by the developer.

Segambut MP Lim Lip Eng said the problems surrounding the issue involved three parties — the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL), the company and the developer. He said the development was a joint venture between the DBKL and the developer, whereby the land was pledged to a third party by the developer to obtain a loan. In another letter from the DBKL to the company, it is stated that from the local authority’s check, the company did not have any stake in the land belonging to the DBKL, either via a contract or a privatisation agreement. Lim questioned why the DBKL had entered a joint venture with a financially unsound company and how the third party could refuse to return the land titles. “Now the house buyers are the victims. The DBKL must pursue this matter. “If the house owners want the title to their units, they would have to repay the loan with interest,” he said during a meeting with the residents recently. He added that the developer had breached the contract as the property should be free from encumbrances before the purchasers took vacant possession of the said building. It also failed to transfer the land title from the DBKL to the buyers after 21 days. Details of the agreement between the developer, the third party and the DBKL are not known.

Kepong MP Dr Tan Seng Giaw, who was also present during the meeting, said they would raise the issue with the Public Accounts Committee as well as the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry today. He said they wanted the matter to be investigated as it involved land issues. “Many empty spaces and green lungs are being encroached in the Federal Territory. “Land is very valuable; it is important to guard against land scams,” he said.