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| Tribunal’s powers questioned [ 14/02/2003 ] |
The Real Estate and Housing Developers’ Association (Rehda) feels that the issue of whether the Housing Tribunal can decide of disputes stemming from Sale and Purchase Agreements (SPA) signed prior Dec 1, 2002 be referred to the High Court.
Rehda chairman Datuk Jeffrey Ng said this is because the matter is a point of law whereby the court is the best place to decide on this matter.
Responding to Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting’s statement on Jan 22 that the Housing Tribunal is empowered to hear certain pre-Dec 1 cases, Ng said Rehda will advise members to insist that such disputes be referred to the courts to determine if they can indeed, be disposed off by the Housing Ttribunal.
“It is not that we want to take the cases to courts because if the disputes could be resolved between developers and buyers, with the Housing (and Local Government) ministry acting as mediator, that would be a better solution,” he told PropertyTimes.
Ong’s statement was based on Section 16N(2) of the Housing Development Act, which states that the tribunal’s jurisdiction is limited to claims brought by homebuyers not later than 12 months from the date of the certificate of fitness for occupation being issued, or before the expiry date of the defects liability period as set out in the agreement.
The Housing Minister said that many had mistakenly believed that the tribunal could only take on cases where the SPA were signed after Dec 1, when in fact the tribunal was allowed to handle certain cases where the SPA was signed before Dec 1.
Ng said all developers should defend their rights and obligations in the old SPA that was signed before Dec 1, which does not involve the tribunal.
“Under the old Act, developers have the right to appeal but under the tribunal, we have lost the right to do so. Thus, we should uphold and protect the right of appeal,” he said.
Meanwhile, in commending Ong for his clarification, House Buyers Association secretary-general Chang Kim Loong said the misconception that the tribunal could only hear cases on and after Dec 1 was brought to Ong’s attention by the association in December last year.
He said the association agreed that there should be a cut-off period for cases to be brought to the tribunal, and referred to Section 16N(2) as a fair way to do it.
He added other grievances such as a developer refusing to fix defects during the liability period and deviation from the SPA could be brought up to the tribunal.
Source : NST 14/2/2003
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