Issues on the remedies for aggrieved purchasers in abandoned housing projects in peninsular Malaysia: Defect liability period

• Main Author: Md Dahlan, Nuarrual Hilal
• Format: Conference or Workshop Item
• Language: English
• Published: 2013
• Subjects: K Law (General)
• Online Access: http://repo.uum.edu.my/10006/1/N.pdf; http://repo.uum.edu.my/10006/; http://lawconference.uum.edu.my/

Defect liability period is a period within which the vendor developer shall be liable to any defect in the workmanship of the duly completed houses occupied by purchasers after delivery of vacant possession.This liability is provided in the statutory standard sale and purchase agreements - Schedules G,H,I and J ('the said agreements').However, this liability is not clearly spelt out if the housing project is abandoned.Thus, in the event of abandonment, the purchasers may not be able to get the protection affordable under defect liability period.Further,the duty to provide lien is not mentioned in Schedules I and J.Due to this lacuna, the rights and interests of purchasers may also not be protected.This paper aims to highlight these problems - defect liability period and the absence of lien in the housing agreements, particularly involving abandoned housing projects in Peninsular Malaysia.This paper is an outcome of several researches done using legal research methodology and qualitative case study research methodology.This paper finds that due to the absence of specific legal provisions on defect liability period and lien, the rights and interests of the purchasers will be denied and they will suffer damage and losses.At the ending part of this paper, the author suggests some recommendations to settle the problems.