Collective sigh

May 20, 2007

Collective sigh


NOT every collective sale story comes with a happy ending, as these cases show:

# Watten Estate Condominium: Two sale committees and two property firms are locked in a race to lure the 80 per cent of residents needed to seal a deal at the 104-unit Bukit Timah project.

One group, represented by DTZ Debenham Tie Leung, is proposing a cash payout. The other, with Dennis Wee Realty and Phang & Co, is offering cash or a replacement unit.

# 48 Shanghai Road: A veteran lawyer claimed he was not told about the sale of his boutique apartment block.

Mr Goh Aik Chew, 65, learned of it from a notice tender in the newspapers. When he checked, he found that all the other units in the six-apartment block had been bought by a developer through friends and relatives.

It was reported that Mr Goh was seeking legal advice.

# Farrer Court: In March, a group of residents apparently launched a smear campaign against their own estate, claiming the area was plagued with bad fengshui which caused suicides at the estate. The aim was to prompt other owners to agree to the sale.

Residents now want $1.5 billion in a collective sale.

# Lincolnsvale: A family of four refused to move out last month even though it was sold en bloc more than a year ago. They claimed they did not know about the sale, even though the buyer put up notices around the estate.

# Waterfront View: A couple who opposed a collective sale of their apartment lost their fight in the High Court last month.

Mr Yeo Loo Keng and his wife Cheryl Lim maintained they would lose more than $100,000 which was part of their CPF principal amount and accrued interest owed to their CPF accounts.

The court threw out their appeal after the Strata Titles Board ruled that it was not a financial loss.