House buyers win 18-yr fight
Published on: Sunday, April 28, 2024
Thumbs-up from Chin (middle, wearing cap), Yong (on his left) and other house buyers in their reaction to the Federal Court’s decision in their favour on April 22, 2024.
Kota Kinabalu: Forty-six house buyers of Taman Bukit Saujana (Springfield Homes), here, finally won their 18-year battle for justice – the Federal Court decided that developer Yusen Jaya Sdn Bhd must pay them RM3.2 million.
It excludes interest of 5pc from September 14, 2015 to the date of full payment.
ADVERTISEMENT
The Federal Court on April 22 upheld the Court of Appeal judgement allowing the claims of the buyers.
The decision was reached by Justices Dato’ Rhodzariah Bujang, Datuk Harmindar Singh Dhaliwal and Dato’ Zabariah Mohd Yusof.
It underscores the significance of the Guarantee provided by Directors of Developer Companies to the Controller of Housing under the present Schedule A of the Housing Development (Control & Licensing) Rules 2008.
This decision means directors must not only guarantee completion of the housing development, but also indemnify buyers for all losses and damages suffered as a result of the breach of obligations by the developer or failure to complete the housing development within the stipulated time.
ADVERTISEMENT
The buyers were represented by counsel Dato’ Malik Imtiaz Sarwar, Datuk Alex Decena and Jordan Kong, while the directors of the firm by Dato’ Cyrus Das, Colin Lau, Baldev Singh and Kelvin Wong.
The 46 home buyers’ claims go back to 2006 when they first sought the help of Christina Liew of Messrs CJ Liew & Co. against Yusen Jaya Sdn Bhd for liquidated and ascertained damages for breach of contract for late delivery and defects in the houses.
ADVERTISEMENT
After a full trial before then Justice David Wong Dak Wah, the High Court entered judgement in favour of the buyers in 2011 for the total sum of RM4.6mil in compensation for negligence and breach of contract.
Yusen Jaya Sdn Bhd, however, failed to satisfy this judgement. As a result, the buyers sought the assistance of Liew (now Datuk and Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment), who approached the then State Minister of Housing and Local Government, Datuk Seri Panglima Haji Hajiji bin Haji Noor (now Sabah Chief Minister) in 2013 for a solution.
Hajiji directed the Controller of Housing to do the needful, who called upon a bank guarantee of RM1.3mil furnished by the developer as security deposit, and thereafter released the sum to the home buyers.
The Controller also granted the home buyers a legal assignment of its rights under the Guarantee provided by the Directors of Yusen Jaya Sdn Bhd in which they guaranteed to complete the houses on time and to indemnify the buyers against all losses and damages suffered arising from breach of obligations by the company.
Having obtained this assignment, the buyers commenced a new suit against the Directors, seeking to enforce the Guarantee against them (directors) and claim for the remaining outstanding sum of RM3.2mil.
The High Court dismissed the buyers’ claims in 2020 but this was overturned by the Court of Appeal in September 2022. On appeal, the Federal Court dismissed the directors’ appeal and affirmed the decision of the Court of Appeal.
Spokesmen for the buyers, Chin Yap On and Yong Sai Khuing, described their legal victory as a “miracle”, saying every cloud has a silver lining.
“It was a tough journey for all of us. At least five buyers have since gone to their rest. Nevertheless, we hail the Federal Court’s decision as one that is good for future generations of house buyers.
“It has wide ramifications for the construction industry, especially developers.
“It serves to further improve protection afforded to home buyers and seeks to protect them from unscrupulous developers,” said the duo, while expressing gratitude to their lawyers.
According to Chin and Yong, the house buyers “nightmare” began around 2006 after they discovered construction defects.
“When we moved into our new homes at the end of 2005, we found certain specifications in our Sales and Purchase (S&P) Agreement were not adhered to.
“For instance, we were supposed to have solid doors. We were short changed by being given plywood doors. Likewise, the bathroom floor upstairs was not waterproofed, so water leaked and dripped onto the ground floor.
Liew filed two suits, the first in 2006 against the developer for negligence and breach of contract and in 2015 for execution of the judgement sum (RM4.6 million).
“It was a landmark decision when the High Court awarded us RM4.6 million in damages in 2011, and four years later, we commenced new legal action against the developer to recover the judgement sum.
“When the High Court dismissed our claim against the developer in 2020, we appealed to the Court of Appeal which unanimously allowed our appeal against the decision of the High Court in 2022.
“However, the developer appealed to the Federal Court against the decision of the Court of Appeal. Thank God, the Federal Court ruled in our favour this week, and our predicament has now come to an end,” they said.
Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
Daily Express Malaysia
