Can developers collect booking fee or deposit?

The sale and purchase agreement (Schedule G, H, I or J) as prescribed by the Housing Development (Control and Licensing) Regulations, 1989 (the Housing Regulations) provides very clearly how the purchase price is to be paid. The first 10% is payable immediately upon the signing of the sale and purchase agreement (SPA), not before.

No collection of any payment is allowed before the SPA is signed. Deposit, booking fee, advance payment, administration charges are just some of terms used by some devious developers in their vain attempts to circumvent or contract out of the Housing Regulations and to confuse, mislead and convince naïve house buyers especially the first-timers.

Collection of any payment by a housing developer before the signing of the SPA is an offence. This is very clear under the Housing Regulations and it does not matter what the developer calls it.

The Housing Regulation 11(2) stated: “No housing developer shall collect any payment by whatever name called except as prescribed by the contract of sale”. (In this context’ contract of sale means the SPA)

Commission of such an offence under the Housing Regulations means that the developer in question can be prosecuted, fined and/or even imprisoned under Regulations 13. Even those persons who knowingly and willfully aids, abets, counsel, procures or commands the commission of such an offence shall be liable to be punished.

Prosecution, however, is in the hands of the public prosecutor whose action or non-action the house buyers are not able to dictate. House buyers and indeed the general public are of course at liberty to lodge a complaint against any developer in breach of any housing laws. Such complaints can be lodged with the Enforcement Division of the Ministry of Housing and Local Government: www.kpkt.gov.my

The law as regards non-payment before the signing of the SPA is very clear and house buyers are strongly urged to understand the law and not be misled by some cunning, unscrupulous developers or their smooth talking sales representatives who either do not know the law or simply do not care about the law.

Profit orientated developers care about nothing but profit. The more they sell the more they gain. They engage marketing commission agents and sales representatives whose only mission is to sell. In their quest to sell their products, some unprincipled commission agents (secondary markets included), who are untruthful will not hesitate to mislead, conveniently telling “white lies” and make empty promises to make a quick buck. Some are so well trained in the art of selling they can probably sell sand to the man in the desert.

Ever wondered why the sales office told you there are only five units left but three months later there are more than 10 units still available? Did the developer’s office tell you the unit you want is already booked but called you two days later to congratulate you because the same unit has just become available? Ever gone to a developer’s office in the hope of getting the “Early Bird Discount” advertised the day before only to find that the project was launched more than a year ago?

Filing a claim for refund

Free gifts, rebates, and waivers of this or that are also fairly commonly seen and are often stated to be for a limited time only. House buyers hurry to meet the deadline. Three months later the same advertisement appears, again for a limited time only or perhaps extended due to popular demand. Gimmicks of “Free legal fees” offer but you must use the developer’s panel lawyers are commonly marketed.

The list of marketing ploys used by developers and their marketing alliance goes on and unscrupulous developers and real estate agents are not likely to stop trying to exploit vulnerable house buyers any time soon. House buyers must therefore be very wary and not be easily swayed by promises made by the developer’s office.

House buyers who are already caught in tussles with housing developers over refund of booking fee or deposit are at liberty to file their claims at the Tribunal for Homebuyer Claims (the Housing Tribunal). The Housing Tribunal was set up as an alternative forum for house buyers to save them the costs and hassle of fighting with housing developers in the civil courts.

The filing fee is only RM10; no lawyers are required and hearings are normally fixed within a month. The Housing Tribunal is empowered to hear disputes between house buyers and licensed housing developers even though the SPA is yet to be signed but the claims must be filed within the time frames provided under section 16N of the Housing Development (Control & Licensing) Act 1966 (the HDA). Check out the link: www.kpkt.gov.my – TTPR

best view as in really best view or 'best' view

sorry nexona88, i take no bribes/rebates/extra freebies/discounts.

salah means salah

unlike some people, kasi sikit. terus lupa diri, lupa nama ibu bapa!



This post has been edited by dobson: Dec 29 2015, 10:30 PM

haha

by not knowing the law, u just made it worse.

starting this year, lawyers are not allowed to act as stakeholders as well.

when your good friend collected money via lawyers, it is already illegal.

police report?

my greatest apologies sire, as i do not have the following with me :-



was not keen on replying you since i have already stated my case prior to this but since you tekan me again, here goes :-

how is sharing facts ruining someone's business?

whatever I have been sharing here from day one are hard cold facts :-

1. cemetery
2. draft spa
3. change of car park price , allocated car park location , power points etc
4. many more, tapi dah lupa

frankly, i m surprised that many of you despite knowing no.2 & no.3 are still staying on.

i did ask my purchaser friends who stayed on - why? why? why?

Their answer is straight to the point.

Each and everyone of them is praying hard and hoping that Marimo Co. Ltd. Japan bails out this Malaysian entity as we all know there are serious problems.

This post has been edited by dobson: Dec 30 2015, 10:45 AM

morning jinsailoo!

i thought u following this thread for the past few months.

don't tell me you never realize something?

for sure he is a buyer but emmm...

cayalah mr. juDas_x!!!

to all you detractors out there, eat this! especially encik tembikai

not much developer will ask puchasers to sign on draft spa later on make changes to final spa.

oh so thats why they stop selling tower b!!! i seee!!!

use some logic. if they did not start selling tower b from the start then perhaps mr. tembikai's reason can be used. but in this case, why stop selling now after selling for 8 months? think people! think!

everyone also realizes that piling has not even commenced? why do u think is the reason?

nehhh, its ok. you think he did not try to do that? sad to say, i was not interested.

thank you anyways mr. tembikai

I am not hiding anything, what is there to hide anyway?

These are facts I am stating.

Call it dig or whatever, I ain't stopping

To those of you who have friends working in Maybank, do ask them about O'hako.

And please don't ask the kuching kurap Mortgage Consultants (MC)s or Sales Executives, you won't be able to get the answer!

This post has been edited by dobson: Dec 31 2015, 01:53 AM

ah, expected this from you.

then how are you going to explain the reason for the following :-

separation of billing for said parcel (unit) accessory parcel (car-park)

let's hear it?

sometimes, receiving too much extra rebates/discounts/freebies can really blind a person / make a person's vision blurry!

hehehe

hahaha

avoided the part on draft spa aye?

haha expected this as well.

look / ask around, which developer actually asks u to come,make payment & sign on a piece of draft sales and purchase agreement.

also please enlighten me, which other developer actually changes the car park price 3 weeks after asking the purchaser to sign the sales and purchase agreement?


is this what you call NORM?

most prolly this is your first house. perhaps some experienced / seasoned purchasers can give their views?



This post has been edited by dobson: Dec 31 2015, 08:41 AM

duit takda, apa progress lu mau?

hehe

agreed! apa jenis ah pig, ah dog also sell

try asking the dogs about the cemetery.

they won't dare to reveal much or they distort the facts.




This post has been edited by dobson: Jan 5 2016, 04:26 PM