Developer Late or Defects Not Fixed? How to Claim at the Homebuyer Tribunal

If your developer hands over late, leaves defects unfixed or owes you a refund, you can claim up to RM50,000 at the Tribunal for Homebuyer Claims (TTPR, its Malay short name), or more if you and the developer agree in writing. You file within 12 months of set dates, and the fee is RM10.

The tribunal is set up by the Housing Development (Control and Licensing) Act 1966, the HDA. It sits under KPKT (the Ministry of Local Government Development) and hears cases from Peninsular Malaysia and Labuan.

Who can claim, and for what

You can claim if you are a homebuyer. The Act defines that as a purchaser, and it includes someone who bought the home from the first purchaser.

KPKT sorts claims into two kinds:

• Technical claims: poor workmanship, faulty building materials, or a home not built to the plans.
• Non-technical claims: LAD (fixed damages for late delivery), a deposit refund, and other claims that come from the sale and purchase agreement (SPA).

KPKT says the tribunal covers homes (it lists terrace, semi-detached, bungalow, apartment, condominium, townhouse and SOHO), not commercial buildings.

What it cannot hear

The Act says the tribunal cannot deal with a claim for personal injury or death.

KPKT’s list of claims outside the tribunal includes abandoned projects, defamation, negligence, fraud by a property agent, landlord and tenant disputes, complaints about lawyers’ services, design faults by consultants, and disputes over whether a CCC (certificate of completion and compliance) is valid.

You cannot run the same issue at the tribunal and in court at the same time. KPKT also says you cannot bring it to the tribunal after a court has decided it, or file it again after the tribunal has decided it.

The RM50,000 limit

The tribunal can hear a claim where the total you ask for is no more than RM50,000. Above that, the Act gives you two ways in:

• You give up the part above RM50,000.
• You and the developer agree in writing that the tribunal can hear the full claim.

You may not split the same matter into two or more claims against the same party to fit under the limit.

Worked example: late handover

KPKT works out LAD as days late x price x 10% / 365. Its own example: a RM300,000 home handed over 100 days late comes to RM8,219.18.

The 12-month deadline

The Act gives you 12 months from one of these dates:

• the day the CCC is issued for the home, or for the common facilities of the home meant for subdivision, whichever is later
• the day the defects liability period set out in your SPA ends (our HDA guide explains this period)
• if the SPA was ended by either side before the CCC was issued for the home, or for those common facilities, whichever is later: the day it was ended

KPKT matches them to claim types. LAD and other SPA claims run from the CCC date. Technical claims run from the end of the defects liability period.

How to file

1. Fill in Form 1 (the statement of claim) and the TTPR details form. You can get both at the TPPS counter at KPKT (TPPS is KPKT’s housing and strata tribunal), or download them from the KPKT website.
2. Make four copies of Form 1.
3. Attach the papers. For a non-technical claim: a copy of the SPA, the vacant possession letter, the CCC and any related papers. For a technical claim, add three copies each of: repair quotes from a contractor or recognised body, the technical claims list, colour photos of the defects, and your first and second notices to the developer about the defects.
4. File at the TPPS counter at KPKT with the RM10 fee in cash, by bank draft or by money order, made out to “Akauntan Negara Malaysia-KPKT-T”. Or post it with a bank draft or money order. Personal cheques are not accepted, and the tribunal does not take cash by post.

The tribunal seals your Form 1 and gives you back three copies: one for you, one to hand to the developer, and one to hand to your bank. You then get a hearing notice (Form 4) with the date, time and place.

What happens at the tribunal

If the developer disputes the claim, it has 14 days after receiving Form 1 to file its defence (Form 2).

The tribunal first looks at whether it should help both sides reach a settlement. A settlement it records counts as an award (the tribunal’s decision). If there is no settlement, it decides the case.

No party may be represented by a lawyer at a hearing unless the tribunal finds the case involves complex issues of law and one party would suffer severe financial hardship without one. If one side is then allowed a lawyer, the other side is too. A company can send a full-time paid employee. Hearings are open to the public.

The tribunal must make its award without delay and, where practicable, within 60 days from the first day of the hearing. Its award can require one side to pay money to the other, the price paid to be refunded, a side to follow the SPA, or money to be paid for your loss. It can also change or set aside the contract, order costs, add interest of up to 8% a year (unless you agreed another rate), or dismiss the claim. Costs cannot be more than RM500 to any one party.

After the award

The award is final and binding on both sides. It counts as an order of a Magistrate’s Court or a Sessions Court, and either side can enforce it as one.

An award made when one side did not turn up, or when the developer filed no defence, can be set aside on an application in Form 12, made within 30 days after the award is received.

Anyone who does not obey an award in time commits a crime. On conviction, they can be fined RM10,000 to RM50,000, or jailed for up to two years, or both. If it goes on after conviction, they can be fined up to RM1,000 more for each day.

Sabah and Sarawak

The HDA says it applies only in Peninsular Malaysia. A 2010 order extended it to Labuan from 1 January 2011. Sabah and Sarawak each have their own tribunal, called the Tribunal for Housing Purchaser Claims, under their own state housing law. Their limits and deadlines are not the same as the HDA’s, so check your state’s law.

What to check before you buy

• Is the sale under the HDA? The tribunal is part of that law. See our HDA guide.
• Does your SPA set out the defects liability period? The day it ends starts one of your 12-month deadlines. Our SPA guide explains the agreement.
• Keep every paper: the SPA, the vacant possession letter, the CCC and any defect notices.
• Write down the CCC date and the end of the defects liability period. Each starts a 12-month clock.
• Send the developer notices about defects and keep copies. A technical claim needs your first and second notices.

This is a general guide, not legal or financial advice, and rules can change. Check your own case with KPKT or a lawyer before you file.