Source : The Straits Times, Mar 26, 2008
A SINGLE home owner has managed to persuade the High Court to reject the $202 million collective sale of Airview Towers in the River Valley area.
The sole objector, Mr Ken Lee, 52, a business consultant, pulled off the victory by representing himself in court against the might of top Singapore law firm Harry Elias Partnership.
The High Court upheld a decision of the Strata Titles Board (STB) last October to throw out the sale application as the minimum 80 per cent approval had not been met in the required time.
Mr Lee said the case showed that the system is fair and considers the views of minority owners.
Bukit Sembawang Estates was the prospective buyer. Unit owners would have reaped about $2 million each.
The court case centred on just two out of the 100 units at Airview Towers, which made the crucial difference between the approval level rising above or falling below 80 per cent.
These two new owners had bought their units during the collective sale process from owners who had signed the agreement - but the new owners failed to sign the agreement in time.
Justice Lee Seiu Kin, in a judgment dated March 19, concluded that the two flats should not be counted. The owners of the two units, whose signatures were originally counted as part of the 80 per cent had, in effect, not signed in time, he said.
That meant the condo did not meet the minimum requirement for the sale to go ahead of 80 per cent of share values within 12 months of the first signature.
As a result, he threw out the appeal against STB’s dismissal of the sale application.
He said the 12-month timeline for the 80 per cent minimum requirement is a ’substantive’ condition put in place by the legislature to protect the legitimate rights of the minority.
The plaintiffs, three owners, argued that the owners of the pivotal two units agreed all along to the sale. Their failure to sign was due to ‘mistake or inadvertence’ and so was a technicality.
But the judge ruled that non-compliance with the timeline is not a mere technicality.
He said safeguards were built into the Land Titles (Strata) Act, allowing for the consideration of all objections of minority owners, and other factors. ‘Timing is important because the longer the process is dragged out, the greater the likelihood that market conditions will change.’
Numerous owners agreed to the sale after the 12-month period. Mr Lee said he objected only over concerns that the sale process was not being done properly - which was some time last June after he had rushed out to buy a replacement unit.
‘I had nine objections but only one was found necessary to halt the sale,’ said Mr Lee.
He added: ‘I respect the majority’s wish to sell, but they should be mindful of the minority’s rights to their homes.
‘That means they have to sell it at a proper en bloc price and do it properly and legally.’
An owner who signed the agreement after the estate’s sale tender was launched said he is ‘very happy’ it did not go through.
‘I was misled into signing the (agreement). I was told they had launched the tender and 80 per cent have signed,’ said Mr Foo Feng Yin, 54.
‘I am very grateful to Mr Lee as I feel that the sale wasn’t done in a transparent manner. The proceeds are also not enough for me to find a replacement unit in the same area.’
Listed Bukit Sembawang won the tender last April. It was planning a 36-storey condo on the site and an adjacent site, Chez Bright Apartment, that it bought in an en bloc sale in 2006. It could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Property consultants said the firm is unlikely to take the case further.
‘Chez Bright can be developed into a small upmarket development,’ said Savills Residential director Ku Swee Yong
‘Given today’s tighter credit terms and slower pace of sales, this decision is probably a positive for Bukit Sembawang.’
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