Claim For Damages By Aggrieved Victim Purchasers In Abandoned Housing Projects In Peninsular Malaysia

• Main Author: Md Dahlan, Nuarrual Hilal
• Other Authors: Rahmawati, Rita
• Format: Book Section
• Language: English
• Published: Rajawali Pers Divisi Buku Perguruan Tinggi PT RajaGrafindo Persada 2023
• Subjects: K Law (General)
• Online Access: https://repo.uum.edu.my/id/eprint/29276/1/2023%20Mac%203%20Indonesia%20Bogor%20Land%20and%20Property%20Book%20Chapter%2030%20Jan%202023.pdf; https://repo.uum.edu.my/id/eprint/29276/; https://www.rajagrafindo.co.id/produk/land-property-and-good-governance-martin-roestamy-dkk/

The licensed housing developers in Peninsular Malaysia are governed by the Housing Development (Control and Licensing) Act 1966 (Act 118) and its regulations. The licensed housing developers are required to use the statutory contract of sale and purchase as prescribed in the Housing Development (Control and Licensing) Regulations 1989 viz in Schedules G, H, I, and J (the said agreements). The said agreements provide the duties, responsibilities and liabilities of the vendor developer and the purchasers. It also provides remedies to the contractual parties. According to some case law, the remedies for grievances of the parties are exhaustive in that the remedies are restricted to the ones that are spelt out in the said agreements. Thus, the aggrieved purchasers cannot claim other types of damages such as exemplary, punitive, aggravated and non-pecuniary damages for their inconveniences, troubles, anxiety, mental pressure, distress, humiliation, personal, family and employment problems that have led to their lives being chaotic and miserable and that have been detrimental to their personal, professional, family (including divorce and its consequences) and societal health and overall happiness due to the losses caused by the default of the vendor developer. Nonetheless, there are case law that held otherwise, in that the aggrieved purchasers can invoke general and wider damages affordable by the contractual principles (such as rescission) and equity other than what are provided in the said agreements. This paper highlights and discusses the divergent principles of law decided by case law in Malaysia concerning the damages and remedies for the aggrieved purchasers in abandoned housing projects. The methodology used in this paper is a pure legal research methodology. This paper finds that the aggrieved victim purchasers are entitled to certain legal and equitable remedies in respect of damages in abandoned housing projects. It follows that the curative rights and interests of the aggrieved victim purchasers are, to a certain extent, arguably, protected, and secured. The end part of this paper will be the conclusion and recommendations of the author in the face of the issues highlighted.