HAVE you ever bought a property and gotten your keys late?
My client was a jovial young lady who had purchased her first home, a RM 700,000 condominium of 1,200 sq ft back in 2018.
The sale & purchase agreement (SPA) stated handover in 36 months. This timeline came and went. 48 months passed, then 60 months and eventually 72 months.
As you might expect, the agent and developer staff – before closing the sale – were enthusiastic and responsive. But after that, their tone changed to ghosting and evasive. My client’s messages, calls and e-mails were consistently ignored.
Meanwhile, the housing loan bank didn’t care. My client was servicing the loan every month, paying interest on a property she couldn’t even step into. On top of that, she had to rent another place just to live.
She was paying for two roofs but owning none in reality.
LAD provision
Finally, in mid-2025, after a total of approximately seven years, my client finally got her keys. She was relieved but of course still pissed that she had waited double the promised time. She rightfully wanted to know her remedies and options.
She texted me on Facebook and we arranged a call. I told her that this is where the SPA would do its job – specifically a mighty little clause known as a “Liquidated Ascertained Damages” (LAD) provision.
The clause was straightforward: the developer gets 36 months to complete the unit. Recent case law had established that this timeline starts from the payment of the booking fee (my client had paid RM500 to book her unit).
If the developer misses this deadline, a daily penalty kicks in – calculated at 10% per annum on the purchase price.
As with many similar cases we had done, the developer rolled out the usual excuses: extension of time, construction delays, COVID-19 disruptions – all those common reasonings.
These excuses might sound reasonable on the surface but they will fall apart under scrutiny.
This is so because housing development SPAs are regulated and the LAD is not just a suka-suka contractual term you can talk your way out of.
Law doesn’t operate on sympathy
It has a statutory backbone. If you want an extension of time to complete construction, you do it properly and within the legal framework.
You do not just say “things are difficult”, “cashflow is tight” and expect these excuses to stick. The law protecting homebuyers does not operate on sympathy.
We kept it simple and wrote to the developer, exhibiting the SPA, the “booking form” and relevant receipts. We identified when delivery was actually supposed to happen and compared the date against when it actually happened.
Based on our calculations, our client was actually entitled to more than RM200,000 in LAD.
The developer replied two weeks later, offering a “goodwill rebate” of RM15,000. My client said to me “Ask them to fly kite, let’s take them to court.”
I agreed with her stance and we filed a Writ and Statement of Claim the following week.
The developer hired their own lawyers who promptly wrote to us with a much more reasonable offer of RM150,000 in full and final settlement; spread out in six monthly post-dated cheques.
I communicated the offer to my client who decided to accept the same.
Many buyers have been in this position. They do nothing or accept gigantic discounts, taking the L (loss) just to move on. Gladly, my client had the ovaries of steel needed to stick through the process with us and get paid justly
Rudi Cheu is a debt recovery lawyer and principal at Rule & Co Advocates & Solicitors. He can be reached at+6010-202 8095 or visit www.rulecolaw.com for more details of his services.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.
- Focus Malaysia.
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