Man seeks house deposit refund
KUALA LUMPUR: A Chinese national has sought help from the MCA Public Services and Complaints Department after failing to get a refund on his deposit of RM65,826 paid to buy a house.
The 38-year-old businessman, who only wants to be known as Jiang, said he had been trying to get his refund since April after the bank rejected his housing loan as the property in question did not have a strata title yet.
He was told the property could not be sold to any foreigner until the strata title was issued.
“At first, the property agent said he would assist me to get back my refund.
“But later, he said the houseowner refused to return my money,” he said at a press conference yesterday.
Jiang said he signed a letter of offer to purchase provided by the property agency when he paid the deposit.
In addition to the question of strata title, Jiang, who currently resides in the country under the Malaysia My Second Home Programme, was also not qualified to buy a second property, according the laws of the Selangor state government.
He already owns a piece of property in Malaysia.
MCA Public Services and Complaints Department head Datuk Seri Michael Chong, who arranged the press conference, said he called the property agent himself twice.
“He gave many excuses and blamed everything on the houseowner.
“After that, we were no longer able to contact the agent,” he said, adding that legal action would be taken if Jiang still could not get his refund.
Chong urged foreigners who wished to buy property in Malaysia to seek advice from their respective embassies, as well as lawyers, so that they understood the rules and regulations.
Since the beginning of the year, Chong said MCA Public Services and Complaints Department had received two other similar cases.
He also pointed out that every state in Malaysia has different rules and regulations on foreign ownership for properties.