No individual house titles even after 20 years

10/04/2008 The Star By Choong Mek Zhin

AFTER shifting into their homes about 20 years ago, residents of Taman Kosas, Ampang, who have never laid eyes on their individual house titles and have demanded it, are finally getting an answer from the developer.

“We have not received the blanket consent from the Hulu Langat Land Office that will allow the mass transfer of the titles from the owner, Koperasi Serbaguna Anak Anak Selangor (Kosas), to the the individual owners,” developer Metroplex Project Management Sdn Bhd projects general manager Mohan K. Ramanujam said. He confirmed that they had received the individual titles in January 2006.

Because the land was leasehold, any transfer of land titles had to receive approval from the state and by applying for the blanket consent, Mohan said, there was no need for the 1,300 houseowners to submit individual requests for the transfer.

“The consent has not been issued because, since 2006, we have been trying to appeal to the state government for a penalty reduction for breach of contract in not meeting the bumiputra quota,” Mohan explained, adding that only 48% of the house owners were bumiputra.

Proactive: Paramjit called a meeting with fellow residents to discuss the issue.

“The 70% bumiputra quota imposed on us is difficult to meet. The housing development was built with the intention of reducing the squatters in the area and the community is diverse to begin with,” he said.

Mohan said the problem did not prevent the Taman Kosas houses from being bought or sold.

“In the absence of the house titles, owners can sell their houses by deed of assignment. A buyer who approaches a bank for a housing loan will merely have an extra step in the procedure, whereby the bank will approach us to confirm the ownership of the seller,” Mohan said.

Resident Paramjit Singh, who bought his house over 20 years ago, recently called a meeting with fellow residents to voice their dissatisfaction.

“We are not happy with the answers we have been getting from the developer.

“When I insisted on my individual house title, I was given a hakmilik sementara (temporary ownership) document. After reading it through, I discovered that the title was still under the name of Kosas, and this is just not right as I had already repaid my house loan five years ago,” Paramjit said.

He stressed that all the owners wanted was their house title.

“We have lived here for so long and I believe most have already repaid their housing loans. Why isn’t the developer giving us what is due us?” Paramjit said.