A promise not kept

A promise not kept
The Malay Mail 21/5/2005 By Dennis Chua

KUALA LUMPUR: Some 500 service apartment owners have grouped together to present their problems to the management company.

The owners bought their property in Mantin near Seremban five years ago for RM130,000.

They also signed an agreement with the management company which promised them an annual return rate of eight per cent of the purchase price.

Their apartments were to be rented out to students of a nearby college.

DAP national consumer bureau secretary Khong Chee Seng, who met the owners, said problems arose when no students wanted to rent the apartments.

"The management company then terminated the agreement with the owners," he said.

The agreement stated that the company reserved the right to terminate it for any reason, by giving the owners two months' written notice.

The owners, however, feel cheated as they had invested a substantial sum in their property.

Khong said he would contact the management company to organise a meeting between the company and the newly-formed owners' committee, to enable both parties to reach a compromise. He said: "We want a win-win situation beneficial to the company and the owners."

The apartment's developer said in a statement yesterday that it had fulfilled its obligations as stipulated in the sale and purchase agreement.

A spokesman for the management company said that it, too, had fulfilled its obligations to the owners in accordance with the agreement.

This included giving them two months' notice in writing to inform them of the termination of the contract.

The meeting was held at the Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall in Jalan Maharajalela here on Thursday.

It was also attended by Cheras MP Tan Kok Wai's special assistant Steven Tan and Lobak State Assemblyman Anthony Loke.