Property disputes keep Strata Titles Boards busier than ever
July 6, 2007
Property disputes keep Strata Titles Boards busier than ever
By Jamie Ee Wen Wei
IT WAS just another day at the Strata Titles Boards (STB) - two groups of residents, lawyers in tow, shouting, arguing, pleading over the proposed sale of their Minton Rise condominium block.
It was the usual standoff: Some residents wanted the sale of the 342-unit development in Hougang to go through, others said no.
Two hours and much raised emotions later, nothing was resolved despite five board members trying to mediate between the factions.
The case will now go to a hearing next month.
Such showdowns are becoming more common these days.
Business has never been brisker for the STB, which has the thankless task of untangling property disputes amid a booming collective sale market that promises untold riches to some but stirs up intense resentment in others.
Often, getting the 80 per cent backing for a collective sale is just the start of the wrangling.
The majority owners must still file for an STB order - which binds all owners to the sale - to seal the deal.
This is the point when owners who voted against the sale can file to halt the process.
They can cite various grounds such as claiming that they will suffer a financial loss, that the sale proceeds are insufficient to redeem their mortgage or that there was a lack of good faith during the sale process.
In such a charged atmosphere of Singapore's property market, it is no surprise that the STB has received 122 objections against collective sales this year - almost double last year's 68.
This is on top of the 66 applications for collective sale orders and the more mundane disputes such as water leaks that it must deal with.
STB president Tan Lian Ker, who joined the board when it was set up in 1988, used to turn up for sessions three to four times a month.
'Now, I come in every other day,' said Mr Tan, a lawyer in his 'civilian' life.
Two more deputy presidents and 10 additional members are expected to be added to the 30-member board to help with the workload. Their $100 cheque received for each case heard is also expected to increase.
The members, appointed by the Law Minister, are drawn from various professions, including accountants, architects, engineers, lawyers and land surveyors.
All are volunteers but some are struggling to keep up with the increased workload and their day jobs.
'I was supposed to come up with a book on adjudication education, but I'll have to put it on hold,' said Dr Philip Chan, one of the STB's three deputy presidents.
He spends two days a week teaching at the School of Design and Environment at the National University of Singapore and three days hearing STB cases.
When a case comes before the board, a panel of three or five members will convene to hear arguments.
Collective sale cases - which have supplanted disputes over water leaks as the main complaint received by STB in the past two years - require five members to hear arguments, given their complexity.
Members with a conflict of interest - family links to the disputed sale, for example - cannot take part.
An average case might take two to three mediation sessions lasting about two hours each, but about one in five disputes has to go to court when a settlement proves out of reach.
In less-contentious cases such as the recent sale of Phoenix Court at Killiney Road, which had only one objector, judgments can be made in under an hour.
But the hearing over the collective sale order for the Dragon Court condominium in Holland Road four years ago started at noon and dragged on until 10pm before weary members could pass judgment.
Emotions run high as well, said Dr Chan, with the parties crying or raising their voices.
When the row involves big money, especially collective sales, mediation gets complicated as more people are involved.
Things became so heated at a hearing last September - when an 80-year-old woman tried to block the sale of Eng Lok Mansion over the objections of her 62 neighbours - that fans had to be brought into the room even though it was air-conditioned.
More recently, when Gillman Heights residents took their case to the STB, so many people turned up that a bigger room was needed at the Maxwell Road offices and security guards were brought in for 'crowd control'.
Sometimes things can get downright ugly.
Mr Edwin Choo, an architect and an STB member for more than 10 years, has seen minority owners treating mediation sessions as 'fishing grounds' for information - minor points such as documents that were not dated or not signed in the presence of a witness - to use against the majority owners in court, when the information shared during mediation is strictly confidential.
In a water leakage dispute, an owner tried to wring money out of his neighbour by renovating his bathroom for $30,000 - way over the usual repair cost of $1,000 - knowing that his lower-unit neighbour had to pay half the cost.
While the disputes may appear petty - such as water leaks - members say there is no issue that is too 'trivial'.
'Imagine if you have to put a bucket in your bathroom to collect water from a leakage every night, or worry if your false ceiling may get too wet and collapse on you,' said Mr Tang Tuck Kim, an STB member and surveyor.
Despite the workload and low pay, many of the members have stayed on way beyond their two-year terms.
'To me, it is a form of national service,' said Mr Tang.
[email protected]
Growing numbers
# The board has received 122 objections against collective sales this year - almost double last year's 68.
# This is on top of the 66 applications for collective sale orders and the more mundane disputes such as water leaks that it must deal with.
# An average case might take two to three mediation sessions lasting about two hours each, but about one in five disputes has to go to court when a settlement proves out of reach.
# The members of the board, appointed by the Law Minister, are drawn from various professions, including accountants, architects, engineers, lawyers and land surveyors.
