House Buyers Association to the fore

The Sun 30/07/2000 By G.Shamala

Buying a house involves a huge capital investment and for many people, it means having to use up a huge chunk, if not all, of the life savings.

Most house buyers also dipped into their EPF sayings or apply for bank loans with repayment periods which can stretch for as long as 20 or 30 years.

After signing the necessary documents, excited purchasers make frequent trips to the project site to see their dream home taking shape while eagerly making plans for safety grilles, kitchen cabinets, furniture and renovation works.

But sometimes all does not go according to plan. Perhaps a few months before the property is due to be handed over, a letter from the developer arise in the mail citing all sorts of reasons for delay in the project.

In some cases, these delays have stretched to several years.

Worse still, some of these projects are abandoned and the whereabouts of the developer are unknown.

By the end of last year, Housing and Local Government Ministry statistics show that there were a told 493 incomplete private housing projects involve 96,247 units worth RM5.72 billion.

While some of the cases have been resolved, in all a total 61,348 buyers were said to be affected.

For many of these house buyers, there's no compensation for their loss, and the only consolation is a vow to be more careful the next time around.

It is to protect the interest of such people that the House Buyers Association (HBA) was set up recently.

The association was formed by 22 concerned members of the public, mostly professionals, at a forum on housing in October last year.

They vowed to seek justice for house buyers by empowering to demand what is rightly due to them.

It's secretary-general Chang Kim Loong explains what the HBA does and how it plans to champion the rights of house buyers.

"Developers have the housing Housing Developers Association but house buyers have no where to turn to when something happens.

"With the HBA, we want them to know that a remedy is available if they need it.

"The association as to date received 150 complaints and our members, all of whom are volunteers, are liaising with the Housing and Local Government ministry as well as the local authorities on how to resolve these problems, " he says.

On how house buyers can go about making a complaint, he says they simply have to get in touch with the association and provide the details of the project to the committee.

"We then encourage the buyers to round up a group of at least 10 people from the same housing project who are affected and they can set up a small committee, choosing office bearers as well.

"We will forward the complaints to the ministry and these office bearers will follow up on the progress of the case.

"We will assist them in any way we can, " he says, adding that Malaysians are now much more aware of their legal rights.

On how those affected can get into groups when most house buyers do not know each other, especially in new projects, he said this is a problem the association is trying its best to address.

"Right now, we have to wait for individual complaints and if they are from the same projects, then they can get together to form a group.

"The association is trying to get the ministry to display a list of all house buyers at the site office or at the ministry itself. This will enable house buyers to find out who the other buyers are.

"Right now, it is very discreet and because house buyers are never provided with this information it is difficult for them to take action jointly.

"Nevertheless, the ministry can easily get the list from the developer," he says, admitting that some developers may not be too happy with this.

At present, about 15 groups of house buyers have already been formed through the HBA and the biggest group has around 200 members.

Most are from housing schemes in the Klang Valley but those in other states, the HBA also has its representative in Kelantan, Negeri Sembilan, Johor and Perak.

On the types of problems house buyers normally complained about, he says it is mainly late delivery of vacant possession and failure to obtain certificate of fitness (CF).

"We had a case where the project was abandoned and the developers whereabouts was unknown. The project was completed but the CFs was not issued.

"There are also cases of incomplete project, incomplete repairs on defects, property not built according to specifications, late delivery charges ignored by the developer, water and electricity not connected and poor workmanship, " he says.

In all these cases, the association has forwarded the complaints to the ministry and follow-up action is taken.

While people are coming forward, Chang says many are still afraid to make the move, as there is still the tendency to wait for others to start the ball rolling.

"Developers are also seen as the big guys and some house buyers feel intimidated.

"But there is really no reason why you can't stand up for your rights and you shouldn't depend on others to do it for you," he says emphatically.

While more problems are likely to come from house buyers who have yet to obtain possession of their new homes. Chang says those who have already moved in are also welcome to form groups of their own.

He feels that it is important for every housing area to have its own "watchgroup" to look into problems which can arise even after they have taken possession of the property.

"There are cases where buyers move in only to find cracks appearing on their walls as well as cases where developers do not bother to maintain the area.

"In fact, we receive complaints not just from people who buy houses but even those who have purchased condominiums, bungalow lots and shop lots," he says, adding that the association wants to advocate some help among all these groups.

Chang is also in the midst of writing a paper on measures house buyers can take and this will be published in the house buyers' guide next month.

He shares some of the things he will be discussing, "under the Housing Developers (Control and Licensing) Act 1966 there are provisions which require developers to give a progress report to the ministry every six months.

"But not many developers are doing this and we have brought this up to the ministry.

"We are hoping that the report can be made available to the public where a copy can be displayed at the ministry for parties affected to keep track of progress."

He is also calling for each developer to be given a colour code which informs buyers about their reputation.

The proposal is for a blue code for good developers, yellow for those with a bad record, white for first time developers and red for those who are blacklisted.

While many developers may not be too pleased, Chang says it will help buyers make informed choices when purchasing properties from any developer.

As for developers with less favourable colour codes, it simply means that they have to buck up and work their way towards a more reputable image.

The association is currently waiting to be registered but members can send it their complaints in the meantime.

Those with problems can reach the HBA at Level 3,31 Jalan Barat, Off Jalan Imbi,58100 Kuala Lumpur.