Horizon Towers Saga Sees New Twist

Source : TODAY, Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Flat owner who backed en bloc move challenges legality of sale in court

THERE was none of the sparks, spats and conspiracy theories that characterised the High Court hearing last month. Still, the Horizon Towers saga returned yesterday with yet another twist.

The hearing started with an owner, who had previously supported and signed up for the en bloc sale, challenging the legality of the sale.

Lawyer Cheong Yuen Hee, who represents the owner, argued before the Strata Titles Board (STB) that the collective sale agreement (CSA), and the purchase and sales agreement had "lapsed" and were "no longer in operation".

Mr Cheong likened the $500-million sale of the Leonie Hill development to "a joint venture" where the "joint objective was to sell at a profit". The CSA was no longer valid as three members of the original sale committee had left.

But lawyer for the majority owners, Senior Counsel Chelva Rajah, argued that if the agreements were not valid, a party should go to court to get an order against them — that is, the STB should not be the one to decide if the CSA was valid.

The five-member tribunal, chaired by STB deputy president Dr Philip Chan, gave Mr Cheong till Friday to make his written submission on his application. The majority owners would then have till Monday to respond. Other parties also have till Friday to hand in their submissions on various issues.

The STB is hearing the majority owners' application for a collective sale and deciding if the $500-million sale to a group of buyers should go through. On Aug 3, the STB had dismissed the majority owners' application on the grounds that it was incomplete as it was missing three signature pages.

Earlier this month, the High Court overturned the STB's ruling and said the missing pages do not constitute a substantial omission that prejudiced the minority owners. It sent the application back to the board.

Yesterday's two-hour hearing witnessed applications contested vigorously by the majority and minority owners. Lawyers of two groups of minority owners applied to release all correspondence between the sales committee and the lawyers for the sale. The majority owners, however, objected and argued that the information was "legal privilege".

The STB will next convene on Tuesday and the hearing is set for eight days.