KUALA LUMPUR: About 90% of the over 11,800 houseowners who had filed cases with the Tribunal for Homebuyer Claims had won their cases.

Tribunal chairman Kamardin Hashim said most cases involved late delivery of properties or liquidated ascertained damages (LADs) claims.

Other cases were claims of poor workmanship, non-compliance with the sale and purchase agreement specifications, and the refund of deposits. The tribunal can award a maximum of RM25,000 to the successful litigant.

Since it was set up under the Housing and Local Government Ministry on Dec 1, 2002, the tribunal had received 11,857 claims (until March 31, 2005), of which 9,512 had been resolved.

Selangor had the highest caseload with 8,633 cases, followed by the Federal Territory (967), Penang (491), Negri Sembilan (434), Kedah (397), Perak (315), Johor (210), Malacca (186), Kelantan (121), Pahang (91), Perlis (seven) and Terengganu (five).

Last year, 6,520 claims were filed, an increase of over 80% from 2003.

Kamardin said claimants need not worry about the legal aspects or construction jargon when filing their cases.

''Some of the claimants are illiterate; some can’t even string a sentence together, so how do you expect them to solicit information?

''So I will ask them to explain and elaborate,'' he said.

On technical issues, the tribunal would rely on Public Works Department officers to assess the situation.

Kamardin said that there was no backlog of cases as most involved simple matters such as LADs, which could be resolved within a day.