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Buyer Watch Issues
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Championing buyer' rights
19/01/2002 NST-PROP
BUYING a home is an important event in a person's
life; it is the single biggest capital investment that a person will
undertake in his or her lifetime. You would expect, therefore, that
such an experience would bring a sense of achievement and joy to
those who pursue it.
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Power to change
26/01/2002 NST-PROP
THE Housing Development (Control & Licensing) Act scheduled to be
gazetted next month gives the Ministry of Housing and Local
Government vast powers to control, license and to take action
against irresponsible developers
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Managing together (Part 1)
02/02/2002 NST-PROP
THE proposed Building and Common Property
(Maintenance & Management) Bill, which is expected to be tabled
sometime this year, is aimed at alleviating the maintenance and
management problems that have become a way of life for stratified
property owners.
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Look before you leap
09/02/2002 NST-PROP
MALAYSIANS love to buy new things. That
indescribable feeling of owning a new possession is something we all
love, even as children. On a small scale, we buy new clothes, new
curtains, new furniture and other items for the house come Hari Raya,
New Year, Deepavali or Christmas because new feels good
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A firm hand
16/02/2002 NST-PROP
THE amendments to the Housing Developers Act 1966,
which was renamed the Housing Development Act to be more reflective
of its role in governing the industry, have been passed by
Parliament.
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No excuse not to pay
23/02/2002
NST-PROP
ONE of the major complaints received by the House Buyers Association
(HBA) is the failure, or in some cases, blatant refusal of
developers to pay liquidated ascertained damages (LAD) as provided
for in the Housing Developers Act.
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Hiding behind the law
02/03/2002
NST-PROP
OFTEN, developers who fail to honour their obligation to pay
liquidated ascertained damages (LAD) to house buyers, seek to hide behind
the issue of buyers' locus standi, or rather lack of it, to initiate legal
proceedings against them.
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The way we see it
23/3/2002
NST-PROP
THE housing industry as a whole has shown some
signs of degeneration over the past several years, and this has
aroused a lot of suspicion and criticism from dissatisfied house
buyers.
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Balancing the scales
30/03/2002
NST-PROP
THE quest for shelter is one of the basic driving
forces of the human race. Today, this quest has been translated into
the more sophisticated need to own a home and much of our lives are
spent in pursuit of this dream.
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Assurance in enforcement
13/04/2002
NST-PROP
IN certain advanced countries, property developers proudly compete
for the covetous task of building quality housing for the state.
However, here in Malaysia there appears to be no signs of growing
pride in building high- calibre houses for the masses.
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Not there yet
20/4/2002
NST-PROP
IF the Housing Development (Control & Licensing)
Act 1966 is to provide protection for house buyers there is a
further need for regulatory measures to weed out errant developers.
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Help for house buyers
25/4/2002
NST-PROP
Many prospective house buyers usually have little
knowledge of what aspects to look for when they are ready to acquire
a home.
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House buyers unite!
27/4/2002
NST-PROP
WHENEVER we attend to distraught housebuyers, one
question keeps cropping up in our minds. Why is it that so many of
them got involved in such seemingly unsolvable problems with their
housing developers?
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Convergent courses
04/05/2002
NST-PROP
THE viewpoints of property developers and house buyers need
not always be a divergent one. This is evident from the fact that
the House Buyers Association (HBA) was generously given a platform
by the Real Estate and Housing Developers Association (Rehda) to
launch its House Buyers' Guide at the recent Malaysia Property
Exposition 2002 (Mapex).
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Forming residents' associations
11/05/2002
NST-PROP
Housing projects big or small, will comprise a
community of owners sharing the common areas, roads, parks,
recreational facilities and housing woes (if any).
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The mystical CFO
18/05/2002
NST-PROP
THE subject of delays in the issuance of the
Certificate of Fitness for Occupation (CFO) has been highlighted in
the media for as long as we can remember, although the matter has
heated up in recent times.
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Scrutinise the small print
25/05/2002
NST-PROP
OF late, the marketing of real estate properties has taken on a new
dimension. Committee members of the House Buyers Association were at
the recently concluded Property and Investment Deal (PAID) 2002
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Why strata titles are important
25/05/2002
The Star
Strata title is one of the title structure of ownership and control over
property. It is usually applied to subdivided buildings or complexes such as
high-rise buildings, town houses, duplexes, flats, apartments, condominiums
and commercial buildings.
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Beware the deed
01/06/2002
NST-PROP
WHENEVER we buy a piece of property where there are common
facilities such as security, social amenities and other areas that
require the involvement of all unit owners, we will be required to
enter into a Deed of Mutual Covenant (DMC).
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Enforcing the Act
08/06/2002
NST-PROP
THE recent announcement that the amendments to the Housing
Developers' Act (1966) has been gazetted was like a breath of fresh air for
frustrated house buyers after a prolonged and suffocating waiting
period.
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Purchasing Perils
22/06/2002
NST-PROP
The House Buyers' Association offers some pointers
on buying properties off-the-plan. You may have received the
well-intentioned advice that buying a property is all about
location, location, location.
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Strata title woes
06/07/2002
NST-PROP
In the first of a two-part article, the House
Buyers Association addresses the problems on strata titles and their
importance to homeowners. Strata titles was first introduced in
Malaysia by way of certain sections of the National Land Code 1965 (NLC) that dealt
with 'subsidiary titles'.
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Taking a proactive stance
13/07/2002
NST-PROP
In the second a two-part article, the House Buyers
Association proposes certain steps to expedite the issuance of
strata titles.
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Downpayment pitfalls
20/07/2002
NST-PROP
The House Buyers Association stresses the need to scrutinise all
documents pertaining to the sale of a property before putting down
any money.
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In the lurch
10/08/2002
NST-PROP
The House Buyers Association highlights some cases of developments
turned into nightmares. Learning from others’ experiences is one
of the best ways to become smarter.
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Problematic builders
17/08/2002 NST-PROP
It's time errant developers are brought to task for cheating buyers
of their due.
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Standing up for the buyer
24/08/2002 NST-PROP
The problems currently faced by aggrieved houses buyers are varied
and plentiful but the most serious must be the one relating to
abandoned housing projects.
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Time for a Property Buyers Protection Act
31/08/2002 NST-PROP
As we celebrate our 45th birthday of independence, we need to ask
whether there are more than enough justifiable reasons for our
jubilation.
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Model for compromise
21/09/2002
NST-PROP
A system that has been practised over a long period of time
eventually becomes the accepted norm in a society.
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Rethinking our delivery system
21/09/2002
NST-PROP
The property industry’s decades-old practice of “selling
off-the-plan” passes the financial burden that ought to be borne by
developers squarely on house buyers.
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The plus points
21/09/2002
NST-PROP
It is an age-old tenet of business practice that businessmen have to
shoulder the capital for whatever activities they undertake. More
significantly, they also have to carry the risk of either success or
failure.
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The ills of speculation
19/10/2002 NST-PROP
During the boom time when the country was flushed with funds, the
property market was lucrative and speculators had a field day.
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Catering to special people
26/10/2002 NST-PROP
The government should seriously consider legislating a mandatory
requirement for the adequate provision of facilities for the
disabled in all buildings.
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HBA goes national
02/11/2002 NST-PROP
Some two years ago, a small group of individuals, typical of the
Malaysian public at large, nurtured dreams of buying their own homes
so that their loved ones would have a permanent roof over their
heads.
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Look before you leap
23/11/2002
NST-PROP
For many of us, the purchase of a house or investment property is
the largest financial commitment we will ever make. More often than
not, to finance the purchase, we have to resort to taking a loan,
which we spend the better part of our lives paying off.
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