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Tribunal for Homebuyer Claims

Project paper presentation:

On Sunday, 10-Aug-2008, I presented a paper on Tribunal for Homebuyer Claims for one of my MBA classes (Law, Ethics and CSR). There were so many questions asked by my fellow classmates. I never thought that many of them have similar problems but not taken any actions.

The following are some info to help you guys who have problems with your house developer.

Tribunal for Homebuyer Claims

This tribunal was established in 2002 and started its full-scale operation in January 2003. This tribunal was initiated and placed under the Ministry of Housing and Local Government. However, this tribunal only handles the claims of a value less than RM 50,000.00 only. You can claim any damages, default or whatsoever but within the stipulated maximum amount. This tribunal acts as an alternative to assist homebuyers to get compensation in an easier, cheaper and faster manner compare to a civil court.

The process...

1.     You must file your claims at the Tribunal (Headquartered in Pusat Bandar Damansara) by filling in Form 1 and pay a fee of RM10. The tribunal will stamp their seal in FOUR copies and TWO copies will be returned to you.

 

2.     You must send ONE copy to the developer to alert them that a claim had been filed at the tribunal. Make sure you send by hand, registered letter, Poslaju or any means that may in return produce a proof of receipt. (This is important for the hearing)

 

3.     The developer has to respond in 14 days if they have any defense statement or counter-claims. They may do that by filling in Form 2 also by paying RM10. If any defense statement were made, you can always make a rebuttal with a Form 3 justification.

 

4.     The tribunal will then calls for a hearing and arrange a pre-hearing settlement if necessary.

5.     During the hearing, both parties (homebuyer and developer) must represent themselves without any lawyer. I consider this fair because we can charge head-to-head with them without fear.

6.     The verdict will be known on the spot and an Award will be granted.

My personal experience...

My wife and I bought a house in Gombak but were unable to get the company loan. Our loan was rejected because the developer was not licensed and a few more doubts from the Sales and Purchase Agreement.

We decided to cancel the buying and take back our 1% deposit paid earlier. What happened was, not only they did not want to return our money but instead threatened us to pay an additional 1% to close file (cancel the buying) or face a lawsuit from them for 30% for breaking the S&P agreement.

I was furious because I hate people pushing me around. Subsequently, I filed my claim at the Tribunal. After the developer received my copy of Form 1, then only they tried to negotiate and apologized. Too late man, see you in court! 

The hearing day came, my wife and I won the case, and the developer were ordered to pay back our loses. It was a public hearing, so there were about 15-20 cases were in session for that day. We were called by our case number. 

The good thing I noticed during the hearing was that the Tribunal was at its best to protect the homebuyer. Many cases won and in favor of the homebuyer.

As a conclusion, know your rights, use your rights and nobody will take advantage on us.

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