Be more inquisitive, house buyers told
12/05/2006 Daily Express
 
Kota Kinabalu: Consumer Claims Tribunal president Jailani Rahman said house buyers should be "more inquisitive" when enquiring about property they intend to purchase.

Dismissing a case brought by one Azman Badu and his wife against housing developer Santan Heights S/B Thursday, he said the latter legally had done nothing wrong.

According to the claimants, they booked a corner lot costing slightly over RM200,000 from the developer after being attracted by the brochure.

However, they later realised upon inspecting the completed unit that they did not like it after all, as there was no window where they expected and the house appeared dark. They claimed it looked rather like an intermediate unit. They also did not like the position of the staircase.

During the tribunal session, the developer explained that the unit is actually an "odd lot", in the sense that it is situated on the end of nine units and therefore without a "pair". "In fact", added the representative, "out of goodwill we had initially agreed to contribute a few thousand Ringgit to renovate the staircase but this only has to be after the OC is obtained."

The claimants had also insisted that the salesperson who showed them the brochure had not informed them of the "odd lot" and knew of its condition after they had signed the Sales & Purchase Agreement.

To this, the president asserted that they should have first checked it out thoroughly to ensure they got what they really wanted.

"There are three things here - while the brochure is not binding, the agreement is, and so you must check well, be inquisitive, before signing. The layout had been approved by the relevant authorities so there was no question of unauthorised alteration."

Eventually, the claimants disclosed that they have already bought another house and wanted to sell off the "odd lot" but that they wanted the developer to first do the renovations on the staircase and the window.

However, the developer said they would be able to carry these out provided the houseowners decide to reside there.