Skip to main content

Right to refund of buyers of undelivered condominium units

Q: I have paid my downpayment in full and I relied on the promise of the developer that the unit I bought will be delivered last year. I found out that at the time I signed the reservation agreement, there is no license to sell yet, worse there was no building stated by the developer. Can I ask for a refund?

Answer: If the developer sells property without the required license to sell issued by the HLURB, the developer will be violating PD 957.  The remedies for a buyer of the property are stated in Section 9. It provides:

SEC. 9. Revocation of Registration Certificate and License to Sell. -The Authority may, moto propio or upon verified complaint filed by a. buyer of a subdivision lot or condominium unit, revoke the registration of any subdivision project and the license to sell any subdivision lot or condominium unit in said project by issuing an order to this effect, with his findings in respect thereto, if upon examination into the' affairs of the owner or dealer during a hearing as provided for in Section 14 hereof, it shall appear there is satisfactory evidence that the said owner or dealer:xxx b) Has violated any of the provisions of this Decree or any applicable rule or regulation of the Authority, or any undertaking of his/its performance bond; or c) Has been or is engaged or is about to engage in fraudulent transactions; or d) Has made any misrepresentation in any prospectus, brochure, circular or Other literature about the subdivision project or condominium project that has been distributed to prospective buyer;

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Signed deed of sale does not mean you own the property

Signing the deed of sale does not make you the registered owner of the property. When you signed the deed of sale and paid the agreed purchase price. You must have the deed notarized to make it a public instrument.  Once it is signed and notarized, the next step would be to register the sale with the Bureau of Internal Revenue District Office where the property is situated and pay the taxes.  The BIR will issue a Certificate Authorizing Registration (CAR).  Upon payment with the BIR and applying for the CAR, proceed to your local government unit's real property office to pay for transfer fees and apply for new tax declaration.  Once the CAR is issued, file the copy of the deed of sale, verified TIN, and CAR to the Registry of Deeds. Congratulations! Title is now issued in your name and the tax declaration released by your local government unit's assessors office, 

5 ways to avoid property scams for OFWs

Investing in real estate is one of the main dreams of the ordinary Filipino. Thus whenever an opportunity presents itself for one to invest anywhere, investing in a house or a home comes to mind. There were several instances when, after working hard to save money to invest, an OFW gets scammed into investing into non-existent property or those involving fake titles. OFWs can protect themselves by knowing these 3 ways to avoid being victimized by property scams.  1. If you are buying condominium units, you can check whether the property has an existing license to sell number before you proceed with your purchase. If it has no license to sell yet, avoid investing. This is to protect yourself from putting money into a project that has no permit yet to sell to the public.  2. Check out the documents.  The best way to check whether the title is legit is to get a certified copy from the Registry of Deeds. Make sure you ask the seller for a copy so your conveyancer/lawyer/br