House Trouble

We're in trouble with the law.


This concerns a recent house purchase in the town I work in. We thought it a good buy - more built-up space for a fraction of the price you'd have to fork out for a similar property in say, Klang Valley, it's reasonably near my workplace, and it's very near Jaya Jusco (grocery shopping made very easy). The finishing was no where near top quality, but heck, it's cheap. The ceiling and bathrooms leaked, but well, the developer sent some guys over, though not promptly, to fix things. We got a government housing loan, making full use of the low interest rate. We expressed concern that government applications usually take time, that there might be a delay in servicing the loans. We were assured by the developer that they would not charge interest for that kind of delay, since it's "usually the case with government loans; we don't take action one". We were fooled.

First, a letter from the developer demanding a penalty for the late payment by the housing board. Huh? A check with the housing board and land office revealed that the first payment had indeed been on time, the second and subsequent ones delayed because the developer had a revamp in the board of directors and the company had a change in name. Our sales and purchase agreement had clearly stated that in the event of any procedural delay on the part of the developer, the house buyer should not be held liable. Negotiations with the developer did not work out, and lo and behold, we have now been summoned to court!

Legal matters, we're laymen. We saw an attorney who is a friend of a friend; he offered us sound advice and thought we have a case. The second lawyer we saw was the chap who handled our S&P agreement, whom we expect to be of greater assistance but instead had more sympathy for the developer. It turned out that he's the legal representative for the developer! Talk about conflict of interest. As he blah-blah-ed about the inefficiency of government agencies and the plight of the developer - painted as the victim here - I couldn't help with but mentally picture him as a bad, bad wolf...in a sheep's clothing.

As a matter of principle, we would not settle out of court. Why pay for something that's no fault of ours? On the other hand, this could drag on. We could ill-afford time off work to attend court or legal fees that could end up a bigger sum than our penalty.

Moral of the story :

1. Buy property from REPUTABLE developers who'd rather safe-guard their reputation than pursue a measly couple of grands from their buyers. Companies not originally in the property business but later "diversified", give them a wide berth.
   
2. Always get a second opinion. Not everybody is forthcoming with the right information, intentionally or otherwise. You know, doctors can get sued for economy with truth.
3. It's always good to have a lawyer in the family.