Hi Guys

I placed a 3% booking for a freehold subsale condo at Cyberjaya in early Oct 2018. The Agent told me it will take around 3 to 6 months for the transfer to conclude. I was only informed by the lawyers when I was about to sign the S&P that the developer have not authorised a direct transfer because the property is undergoing strata title transfer. Instead of 4 to 6 months it will now take about a year for the whole transfer to conclude as it will need to go get permission from state authority twice. The issue I had is that the Agent did not inform me that the property is undergoing strata title transfer. He claim the owner did not inform him. The worst thing is the the Agent have banked-in the booking fee into the property agent company.

Because of the delay, I refused to sign the S&P but the lawyers keep urging me to sign. I've looked at the Letter of Offer to Purchase and found the following clauses:-

1) S&P must be signed within 21 working days from the date of acceptance of the offer. It is now more than 21 days.
- If it's due to purchaser (me), consequence is the purchaser deposit shall be forfeited
- If it's due to vendor (owner), he shall refund the deposit to purchaser (me) + a sum equivalent to the deposit being liquidated damages
2) In the event that the title for any reason whatsoever cannot be transferred to the purchaser (me), the vendor shall refund the deposit.

My question is what should I do?

1) Can I ask for refund of deposit since the title can't be transferred to me now?
2) Can I also asked for liquidated damages as I will still need to pay the lawyers (both S&P & loan agreement lawyers)

OR

3) Should I sign the S&P and bank loan agreement now and hope that everything can kautim within a year? The lawyers and Agent say I should sign the S&P but I don't think this is fair to me as this was not what I originally agreed and I am worried about waiting for a year.

I think is possible to cancel it.
Have you go thru the terms in the booking form?
Or you can check with the developer about it.

This post has been edited by sunami: Nov 19 2018, 10:20 AM

Yes, it says if its my fault, my deposit gone but if its seller fault, he should refund my deposit. Also, very clear clause say if title cannot be transferred, deposit should be refunded to me.

My problem is the lawyers fees. Can I claim from the seller?

i dont think is your fault. there is hidden info that is not well informed before you signed the booking form.
this is arguable..

Your mistake is allowing the 21 days to lapse so now the owner may cancel the deal and forfeit your deposit.. But if the owner is keen to sell regardless he may allow this deal to go through regardless..

It was the agent's misinformation about how long it will take and you or lawyer should have written to the agency demanding for the return of the deposit
and subsequent cancellation of the purchase.

So its a bit tricky really due to the lapse of 21 days..

You may have no choice but just to proceed with the purchase - it may take less than one year but if you really need to have VP sooner, speak to the agent
and request that the owner rents the place to you while awaiting completion ..Rental usually half of market rate in your case

whatever you decide to do, consult your lawyer for advice (am assuming you have your own lawyer)

Thanks for the advise. The problem is my lawyer is also the vendor's lawyers. I have learnt my lesson here. Do not listen to Agent when they advise to use lawyers recommended by them.

When the lawyer contacted me to sign the S&P, she did not inform me about the developer has refused transfer of title. So, I made an appointment to sign the S&P after 21 days. I think it is very unprofessional of the lawyer to withhold such important information. By right, once they receive info about title problem, they should contacted me first.

So I guess, I have no choice but to sign the S&P. This incident makes me really pissed-off with the way property Agents & lawyers act. Agents, at least understand they are only interested to close the deal but lawyers are also not acting professionally. The worst thing is I am a genuine house buyer and got screwed! No more property buying after this. Learnt my lesson, better stay in smaller house.

First and foremost - you cant share lawyers ..

So in spa transaction the buyer usually hire the lawyer and the vendor is not represented if he/she uses buyer's lawyer to help redeem loan, file rpgt etc but wont be represented. So in any dispute, your lawyer should be protecting YOU - not vendor..!

I can only assume that the lawyer that you are using is less than but it could just be an oversight as lawyer maybe assume that you already know as this type of
cases is not extraordinary as it happens in some cases...

Thanks for the advise again.

I will speak to my lawyers again. I will tell her I need a written guarantee from the vendor that he will not claim for forfeit of my deposit even if the S&P Agreement is not signed within 21 days. Also, I told the lawyers, I am willing to give the vendor 6 months for him to kautim his strata title issue with the developer. If within 6 months, he also can't kautim, then the deal should be off and he must refund my deposit as I can't wait for him indefinitely.

What do you think of my proposal?

You mean dont sign spa first until strata title is transferred?

usually in this type of cases, the spa is signed but subject to strata title being perfected and the completion date of 3+1 runs from the date
the strata title has been transferred from developer to vendor..And in any event the title cannot be perfected for whatever reason, there should be a clause
in the spa to protect you ie deal aborted and all monies refunded.

I agree with this point. Assuming that the unit is currently a vacant unit.
By dragging out (due to strata title complication) + able to seal a half month rent vs market rate, I think is still a good deal after all.
It is better than making loan repayment to the bank + maintenance fees, etc (all still under the owner responsibility).

Unless genuinely got something fishy going on just to scam away your 3% deposit.
Need to make sure the S&P drafted perfectly to protect all your interest, especially on the issuance of strata title, is solely owner responsibility and the timeline will only start counting there after.

Thanks for your advise. I do not need to stay at the unit yet as currently I still have a place to stay.

The lawyers have drafted a letter where both parties agree to extend the period of signing S&P for another 6 months without any penalty to both parties. If vendor still can't transfer strata title within 6 months, the deal is off and he has to refund the deposit. I don't think I have any choice but to agree with this new terms. So I will wait for another 6 months.