DBSS Buyer must remarry or pay $132,000 Penalty

[xebay11]

http://www.propertyguru.com.sg/prope...32-000-penalty

Another Design Build and Sell Scheme (DBSS) flat buyer has been issued a 20 percent penalty after his wedding was cancelled.

After PropertyGuru published a story about a couple who was required to pay a penalty after they called off their wedding, another reader, John (not his real name), reported a similar incident.

He purchased a DBSS home for S$660,000 in 2008 from a developer, under the Fiancé / Fiancée Scheme and was required to turn over a copy of his marriage certificate by 20 April 2011. However, since the wedding is off, he is now disqualified from the scheme. He is also required to pay 20 percent of the purchase price as a penalty, which comes to S$132,000.

Despite his numerous appeals and even after consulting with his MP twice, he was advised to get married again. Otherwise, the developer is entitled to forfeit his deposit.

“I will be destroying my life the next three years as I need to save up again for my marriage. This is too heavy a penalty for me,” said the 29-year-old, whose monthly salary is S$2,500.

“I was with my ex-girlfriend and the location is nice. That’s why we chose this DBSS flat,” he explained, when asked why he did not opt for a more affordable Built-to-Order (BTO) flat.

When contacted, a spokesperson for the developer said, “The developer reserves the rights to terminate the sales and purchase agreement by serving a 21-day notice and forfeit 20 percent of the deposit as stipulated in clause 20 of the agreement should the buyer be no longer eligible to buy the DBSS unit.”

To keep the flat, John was told to form a family nucleus, as approved by the HDB. He is, however, unable to do so, as his parents already own a private property.

“Under such circumstances, the developer can allow another buyer, provided there is an eligible one, to take over such a unit,” added the spokesperson.

John's potential partner will have to be a non-Chinese, as the quota for a Chinese applicant has already been met.

Until such an applicant steps forward, John has to face the penalty.

Kena sabo by girl friend?

[Lovelle]

salary $2900 and commit to 600k home. Very siong wor...

[westman]

salary $2900 and commit to 600k home. Very siong wor...

Not so lar as we have been regularly assured by MBT public housing DBSS is affordable.

[buttercarp]

salary $2900 and commit to 600k home. Very siong wor...

Ya lor.
$2500 x 12 = $30000 per annum.

So should not buy house more than 5 x your annual income.
So he should spend only $150000 on his home, unless he got other income.

Wah, why he kenna only, what about his ex?
Did not contribute meh?
So those on Fiance fiancee scheme, better contribute equally or sign some prenuptial agreement.

[xebay11]

Guys beware...

[xebay11]

Scrap fiance / fiancee scheme, next time.

No marriage cert, no buy. Simple.

[Lovelle]

Guys beware...

china gf or sg gf ?
take a guess

[thomastansb]

This one clear cut dumb case lor. They know need to get married and if they don't, of course lose the 20%. Nowadays, Singaporeans receive at least 12 years of education till Sec4/5. Cannot say uneducated as excuse liao. Dumbness is not one of the valid one either.

[buttercarp]

So got to marry someone to save him from the forfeit?
Poor guy.......

[xebay11]

china gf or sg gf ?
take a guess

Ha ha could be either. PC reply k

[xebay11]

So got to marry someone to save him from the forfeit?
Poor guy.......

Must marry non-chinese too.

[buttercarp]

Scrap fiance / fiancee scheme, next time.

No marriage cert, no buy. Simple.

Got a friend who registered marriage, got HDB flat, then annulled the marriage after 1 year.
Dunno what happened to their HDB flat.

[buttercarp]

Why must marry non chinese?
I tot if sell then must sell to non chinese since quota for chinese already met?

[iwantgizmos]

Developer is truly not at fault here... Rules are rules...
If you want to buy DBSS, have to play by their rules...

Don't hate the player; hate the game.

[xebay11]

Got a friend who registered marriage, got HDB flat, then annulled the marriage after 1 year.
Dunno what happened to their HDB flat.

Treat as divorce case. Sell or buy back as single.

[xebay11]

Why must marry non chinese?
I tot if sell then must sell to non chinese since quota for chinese already met?

See the article...Chinese quota filled.

[iwantgizmos]

Treat as divorce case. Sell or buy back as single.

Cannot, this will be worst... There will be a flaw here...
Everybody will act as fiance during application, then end up buying as single...

[bargain hunter]

now must remarry non chinese somemore. so ridiculous.

[stalingrad]

now must remarry non chinese somemore. so ridiculous.

no!!!! So Funny!!! This kind of thing can only happen in Singapore. haha, I laughed so hard I think I broke my back.

[xebay11]

Cannot, this will be worst... There will be a flaw here...
Everybody will act as fiance during application, then end up buying as single...

Yep. So what can you do about it?

[proud owner]

no!!!! So Funny!!! This kind of thing can only happen in Singapore. haha, I laughed so hard I think I broke my back.

it is ridiculous that only John is penalised with the 20 pct fine ..

what about the ex fiance ?
she should bear 50 pct of it as well


divorce she gets 50 pct of his

so its only fair she also take 50 pct of this liability

john should challenge the law ..

write to LHL ..MBT ..LKY etc etc ...
kick a big fuss out of it ..

[iwantgizmos]

Must marry non-chinese too.

The article did not say "John" is a Chinese. You guys are all assuming it is.

[bargain hunter]

the way its worded, it implied that john is chinese. LOL. if not, they should not say that chinese quota is up as it would not be that big an issue.

The article did not say "John" is a Chinese. You guys are all assuming it is.

[Regulators]

This is the kind of gen y we have, utterly brainless.

[amk]

This is the kind of gen y we have, utterly brainless.

btw u r in edu business rite ? so how is gen Z ?

(for gen y, I tell u I have quite a few gen y friends who agree with that famous gladys)

[masterkey]

John is non-chinese. The rule doesn't force him to marry a non-chinese. But allows for another set of eligible buyers to take over his purchase, e.g. another couple. However, since the Chinese quota is filled, the replacement couple must be non-chinese.

Don't always blame Singapore government lah.

[buttercarp]

If John is non chinese, then even if he marries chinese wife, he is non chinese, so why cannot even if chinese quota is met?

[howgozit]

it is ridiculous that only John is penalised with the 20 pct fine ..

what about the ex fiance ?
she should bear 50 pct of it as well


divorce she gets 50 pct of his

so its only fair she also take 50 pct of this liability

john should challenge the law ..

write to LHL ..MBT ..LKY etc etc ...
kick a big fuss out of it ..

It is the forfeiture of the 20% deposit of $132,000, not a fine that he has to pay as the article seems to suggest.

The article does not say how much of this $132,000 was contributed by John though it implied that he paid the entire sum. It could very well be a 50-50 split between him and his ex-girlfriend.

If he did however cough up the entire $132,000, this is beyond the coverage of the law. Kick up a big fuss and he is going to look sillier.

He entered into this agreement in 2008 when he was just 25years old, I am very doubtful that he could come up with $132,000 all on his own . His pay is $2500 now, how much could it be then at 2008? 4 years ago.

While I sympathise with his predicament, I can't help but feel that he must also own up to the responsiblity of his actions. Unfortunately, this is Singapore and property is a big ticket item, can't be frivolous about it.

[linchong84]

haha it's so easy to guess..

most probably he is a chinese but his ex-gf is a non-chinese, and they had managed to buy it using the non-chinese quote due to the ex-gf.. Now that they broken up, he needs to find a non-chinese gf again take up the unit if he doesn't want to incur the penalty..

[DaytonaSS]

$2500 monthly pay dont wanna apply BTO for HDB. IF he dont be a smart Alec go commit so much he will kanna meh? so now everyone need to solve his problem??

26 years old is not 5 years old, i believe nobody force his hand to sign on the line. What was the reason the "wife"-to-be left him? What if is he go F**k around kanna caught?

His family could sell their private and form a family nucleus as approved by HDB. But that would be too much to ask for his family???

Worst to worst file bankruptcy lor, 5 years later yi tiao hao han.