Apartment owners fail to retrieve strata titles

SHAH ALAM: Some 951 residents of low-cost flats at Taman Chi Liung in Klang failed in their bid to retrieve their strata titles despite a 23-year wait following a High Court decision yesterday.

The developer of the flats, Chi Liung Holdings Sdn Bhd had filed a suit on March 1, 2013 against Alliance Investment Bank Bhd, which is the manager and agent for a consortium of 12 lenders, to surrender the related master titles to the Shah Alam Land Office in order to process the strata titles for units.

The lenders were however not willing to release the master titles due to the developer’s default of loan repayments amounting to RM38 million.

Although in default, Chi Liung Holdings completed the flats in 1990 and the owners had occupied their units in early 1991.

In 2011, the developer paid RM837,425 in two cheques to the banks as the full and final settlement of the loan and Alliance had cashed the cheques.

Shah Alam High Court judge Datuk Hadhariah Syed Ismail in her verdict said that Alliance had proved in corresponding letters and through its conduct that the RM837,425 could not be accepted as the full and final settlement and only the consortium of lenders was authorised to decide on the matter.  

She said there was no binding agreement between Chi Liung Holdings Sdn Bhd and Alliance even though the latter had cashed both the cheques.

“In this case, despite cashing the two cheques there is no clear undertaking to release the agreements (documents including strata titles),” she added.   

In its statement of defence, Alliance denied entering into an agreement on the basis that RM837,425 constituted as the full settlement of the outstanding loan.  

Chi Liung Holdings was represented by Datuk V Sivaparanjothi and A S Thisinayagam, while counsel Chan Kok Keong appeared for Alliance.

Sivaparanjothi told reporters he would consult with his client before filing an appeal. — Bernama


This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on May 20, 2014.