KULIM: For four years from 2001, administration executive Jayainthy Subramaniam faithfully paid the progressive payments to a developer for her house here, and in 2005 she was so happy when she received the keys to the 1,400 sq ft unit.
The joy was shortlived. In 2019, her problems began and for more than 10 years now, she has been trying to salvage the single-storey home she bought for RM78,850 from being auctioned off by a bank.
On Wednesday, she lost the battle.
“I have been told the property was sold off at an auction at the High Court in Alor Setar. We could not get any other details,” said Jayainthy, who believes she has literally been cheated out of house and home.
Her problems began when she was told the developer had not paid the money to RHB Bank, which was the financing institution for the project. The redemption sum also had to be paid to allow the property to be transferred to her name.
When she approached the bank, she was asked to pay about RM100,000 in redemption sum, overdue interest and other charges, to reclaim the property. This was despite showing evidence in the form of receipts of all payments made to the developer.
Jayainthy said that since 2009, there have been at least five attempts by the bank to auction off the property, but with no interested buyers.
“It is unjust of the bank to auction the house when I have evidence that I have paid for the house in full. It was the developer who failed to pay the bank. It is my family’s hard-earned money. Is it my fault that I did not know the bank had issues with the developer?” said Jayainthi, showing the receipts she had received for her payments.
“The bank gave the loan to the developer, who turned out to be dishonest and did not settle the dues at the bank. So, why am I being victimised?” she asked.
Jayainthy said she had gone to the Penang-based developer Lunas Garden Sdn Bhd to demand that they at least pay her back her money, but she could not reach anyone. She said a recent check showed that the company had not been declared insolvent yet.
In 2015, she took the matter up with the National Housing Department, which had also asked the developers to explain why the house was being auctioned when the buyer had paid the amount in full. However, she said, there was no reply despite two letters to the developer.
After her pleas to the developer and bank went unheard, she filed an originating summons against Lunas Garden Sdn Bhd and RHB Bank at the High Court in Alor Setar in 2017. The developer was not represented in court, she said.
Jayainthy said that the case was heard in chambers and claimed it was summarily dismissed “without any reason”. Instead, she was ordered by the court to pay RM1,500 in costs to RHB Bank’s lawyers on Sept 13, 2018.
With her RM78,850 gone and unable to afford any more money for lawyers to pursue her case further, she said she finally gave up the legal fight.
Jayainthy has lodged a complaint with the Consumers’ Association of Penang, which also saw no response from the bank or other parties to the group’s correspondence.
CAP complaints bureau chief Ravinder Singh said the bank should be big-hearted enough to let Jayainthy have her property back.
He said the buyer, who paid for the house in cash, did not know that a redemption sum had to be paid to claim the home, unlike those who had bought properties through loans.
“She is an innocent purchaser. The developer did not hand over the redemption sum to the bank after having taken the money in the form of progressive payments,” he said.
An RHB Bank spokesperson said while they sympathised with Jayainthy’s plight, they were unable to help her as she was not their customer.
The bank said the sale and purchase agreement was between her and the developer, and RHB was not privy to it.
“The complainant’s civil action against the bank was dismissed by the court in September 2018 and the complainant did not appeal against the decision.
Jayainthy can now only hope there will be help from somewhere for her to hold on to the house she has painstakingly paid for.