Houseowners left in the lurch

‘How can the ministry help provide more homes for the rakyat when they cannot even solve our decade-old woes?’ cry the disgruntled homeowners.

PETALING JAYA: Swayed by ads of a housing development project jointly run by DBKL, Khoo Ah Loi purchased a condominium unit in 1995 – only to learn years later that it was sold without his knowledge.

Despite this, Khoo must continue servicing the remainder of his loan (RM382,840, with interest) to the bank, having lost a decade-long legal battle against the developers.

Now without the home and on the verge of bankruptcy, Khoo sought help from the Housing and Local Government Ministry, Bank Negara, and the courts.

But none assisted him and Khoo is forced to continue the battle alone.

Meanwhile, fellow homeowner Foo Chee San faced a similar fate after purchasing a unit at the same condominium — and he has already been declared bankrupt.

According to the National Consumers Complaint Council (NCCC), Khoo and Foo are among many homeowners in Malaysia cheated of their property and unable to find a resolution to their woes even decades later.

“Housing cases increase day by day, and it runs to the thousands,” said K Ravin, the deputy director of NCCC.

“They are rarely, if ever, solved, and this is because housing laws are very weak, general and vague.

“On top of that, there is no synchronising between the housing ministry, banks and developers, and this leaves buyers in the lurch when they face problems,” he added.

Government not taking responsibility

Ravin said that while the government is keen on creating more affordable homes for the people, there is little to no monitoring done over its implementation.

Nor is there any proper redress system to protect house buyers should they find themselves stuck with houses that are unliveable and mounting debts from the bank.

Ravin’s comments come at a time when Housing and Local Government Minister Chor Chee Hung announced hat Malaysians earning less than RM2,500 may soon purchase the government-initiated People’s Housing Project units for only RM35,000 each.

Revisions to the first home ownership scheme in the Budget 2013 have also waived the requirement for three months of savings in the installments, making it even easier for first-time owners to cope with property costs.

But Md Wahab Md Ali, another homeowner who faced problems similar to Khoo, likened the ministry, Bank Negara and the judiciary to “tombstones” when it came to solving housing woes.

“I met Michael Chong (MCA Services and Complaints Department Head) regarding my problems, but he just told me they had too many complaint files to look through,” he said.

“I sent a letter to the National Housing Department, and they merely informed that they would take ‘tindakan sewajarnya’ (suitable action).

“But they have done nothing; the ministry is just lip service and ‘tindakan sewajarnya’ is their favourite phrase,” he said in disgust.

Life savings are robbed

Md Wahab had purchased a condominium unit in 1995, but the developers went bankrupt and the units — one of which he was still paying for — were left abandoned and rotting; littered with gaping holes; and filled with broken or vandalised facilities.

When the bank attempted to auction the units at less than half its original price, there were no takers and Md Wahab as well as fellow buyer Lee found themselves in a financial conundrum.

“Our life savings are robbed just like that, I am now blacklisted under CITOS, and soon the bank will come after me,” said Md Wahab. “Meanwhile, the original developer gets off scott free.”

He expected the ministry to take a more serious stand to protect buyers from errant developers, especially if the former expected the same people to give them support in the next general election.

“What is the ministry for? If you give license to these companies to develop homes, then control them as well. Go after them,” said Md Wahab.

Meanwhile, Ravin warned potential housebuyers to research the property and the developers first before committing to a purchase.

“All these people who came to complain here today purchased their homes legally and followed all the right procedures,” he pointed out.

“Yet they still face all these financial and legal problems, and there doesn’t seem to be an end to it,” he added.