SINGAPORE: Even before the dust settles on the Horizon Towers saga, the sole unit owner objecting against Devonshire Lodge's collective sale has decided to seek legal action to break the deal. All the owners, except Mr Jeffrey Lai, had agreed to sell the 27-unit Devonshire Lodge en bloc for $37.2 million.
Mr Lai said he would hire a lawyer to fight the case.
And some owners who had signed the sales agreement are now having second thoughts.
Mr Lai said: "Roughly, each unit will get about $1.5 million. For the smaller unit, they are getting $1 million plus. I won't say that they are getting less or whatever, but at least we want to know that it's a fair valuation when they sell the property, that's all."
The next step, Mr Lai said, is to wait for an independent valuation report which should be ready by the end of the month.
This report will then be submitted to the Strata Titles Board as part of an application against the deal and to set a hearing date to present his case.
When contacted, Toh Tan & Partners, the law firm representing the majority of the owners, said it was unable to comment as the matter is set to go under judgement.
Meanwhile the buyer, developer Evan Lim & Co, said the deal was negotiated at market rate then.
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Devonshire Lodge owner plans legal action against en bloc sale
The Strata Titles Board said that to date, there are only three cases where an en bloc transaction has been blocked.
Industry watchers said the typical issues raised by objectors relate to sales process and valuation, which can be subjective.
Nicholas Mak, a property analyst at Knight Frank, said: "In a market where prices are changing almost every month or every quarter, the valuation report may become a bit outdated a couple of months later, so it will help in the beginning to give the residents a certain idea, an independent opinion on the value of their property. But they must act upon that information that is received. If they want to use valuation, they may have to do an update of the valuation report a bit later."
Harry Elias Partnership's Philip Fong said: "For the valuation itself, it doesn't mean that just because it's lower than the fair market price, there is automatically bad faith or lack of good faith. There has to be inadequate marketing, or they have to show that the sale was rushed into, or there was suppression of facts. So, these are limited grounds."
To compound the problems, Mr Fong said, minority dissenters are usually not privy to what went on during meetings to discuss the sale of a property.
They also do not have easy access to the sales committee and documents.
Still, it does not mean they do not have a case.
It all depends on the merit of the case.
Under the Land Titles Act, apart from technical objections, they can also object on the basis of financial loss. - CNA/ir
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