Apartment owners in a quandary over strata titles
PENAMPANG: Bundusan Villa apartment owners have yet to obtain strata titles despite having lived there for 18 years.
The protem resident committee, led by its chairperson, Rose Andrew, invited Api-Api assemblywoman Christina Liew to Bundusan Villa for a site inspection yesterday.
Liew said the problem causing the non-issuance of strata titles was because the developer had only completed four out of the eight blocks approved in the Development Plan (DP). The existing four blocks have a total of 224 units, which are all fully occupied.
She said the developer may have decided against proceeding with the construction of the remaining four blocks as it involved cutting a rocky hill, which would incur high costs.
Without completing all eight blocks as stipulated in the approved DP, Liew said the development was considered incomplete under the law.
Ten years ago, Liew said the Lands and Surveys Department had issued a letter to the developer suggesting the latter to amend the Sales and Purchase Agreement (SPA) for Bundusan Villa to enable the application of strata titles.
However, she said it had yet to be confirmed whether the developer had taken the advice of the department to amend the SPA.
Liew, who met with the protem resident committee members in her capacity as a lawyer, said the non-issuance of strata title was a major issue for the residents as they would have to deal with complicated procedures when they wanted to sell their homes or transfer ownership to their children.
The residents also expressed their fears of losing their homes if anything were to happen to the developer that could cause the land to be caveated or seized by the bank.
An owner also said he faced difficulty obtaining refinancing for his home from banks because the apartment does not have a strata title.
Liew said she would follow up this issue with the developer, Lands and Surveys Department and other relevant authorities.
She pointed out that it was unacceptable and unreasonable not to issue strata titles to the owners who have bought and moved into the apartments 18 years ago.
“We want this issue to be resolved,” she emphasised.