Tiang: House buyers should lodge complaint with tribunal if they face issues pertaining to SPA breach

SIBU (March 29): House buyers who are facing issues pertaining to the breach of Sales and Purchase Agreement (SPA) should lodge a complaint with the Sarawak Housing Purchaser’s Claims Tribunal, said Michael Tiang.

The Deputy Minister for Public Health, Housing and Local Government II said this would ensure that their rights as buyers are protected.

According to him, there were many times when buyers engaged lawyers to handle the SPA when purchasing a house and the lawyers actually acted for both developers and buyers.

“Most of the time when the buyers faced the defects of the house or breaches of the SPA, they would be advised not to lodge complaints with the tribunal but to continue to communicate with the developers.

“Because of that, many times, it caused their claims to fall outside the claim period,” he claimed.

The Pelawan assemblyman explained that the claim filed with the tribunal shall be not later than 18 months from the date of issuance of Occupation Permit (OP) or before the defect liability period ends as specified in the SPA.

Hoping that more house buyers would be aware of the Sarawak Housing Purchaser’s Claims Tribunal, Tiang said it was established as an alternative besides court to hear and adjudicate housing buyers’ claims from housing developers.

“It will hear and adjudicate housing purchaser’s claims such as Liquidated Ascertained Damages (LAD), Defects of Workmanship and non-compliance of specification as stated in the SPA. All claims filed shall not exceed RM150,000.”

Tiang also said that the tribunal has settled nearly 300 cases throughout the state over the past three years.

Claims can be filed to the Tribunal via online system homeapps.sarawak.gov.my

A fee of RM50 will be charged for every filing.  The tribunal office can be contacted at 082-312507/312517 or email ttprs@sarawak.gov.my or visit the website at mphlg.sarawak.gov.my.