Buyers paid almost $1.2 million for the condominium unit at The Crest
The events leading up to the current dispute began in December 2015, when Ms Li and Mr Li, daughter and father, bought a unit at The Crest in Prince Charles Crescent for $1.785 million.
In March 2018, the deal was annulled by Wingcrown Investment, a unit of listed developer Wing Tai Holdigs, after the pair failed to make the requisite progress payments. By then more than $1.2m million had been paid.
The developer retained a sum of $379,195.58 from the instalments paid and said it would return the balance to the purchasers. But father and daughter remained interested in buying the property and Wingcrown granted the pair a second option to purchase for the property at $1.9 million.
Out of the money forfeited from the first attempt, a sum of $357,000 was credited as the fee for the second option. This option was exercised in April 2018.
Despite several time extensions, the pair failed to complete the transaction. Ms Li blamed their then property agent Liu Siyu for failing to make the requisite payments on their behalf. The former agent from ERA Realty Network Pte Ltd was sentenced to three years’ jail in March 2023 for misappropriating nearly S$600,000 of the money entrusted to her.
Wingcrown notified the purchasers in November 2018 that the sale had been terminated and asserted that it was entitled to the stipulated $1.2 million deposit as forfeit.
Separately, Ms Li and Mr Li have filed a lawsuit against ERA, Liu and Ms Neo Yoke Lai, to claim about $1.29 million in damages. Ms Neo was Liu’s superior at the real estate agency and a family friend. According to court papers seen by The Straits Times, the pair are accusing Liu of making false representations. They have also alleged that Liu, Ms Neo and ERA are liable for negligence. ERA has filed its defence, contending that it should not be held liable for any negligent or fraudulent acts on the part of Liu or Ms Neo.
Nearly five years after the aborted transaction, it was only under the threat of legal action that the developer of The Crest, reduced the forfeited sum to $380,000 from almost $1.2 million.
The father and daughter pair from China decided not to go through with the purchase of the condominium unit and the developer decided to forfeit the entire sum of $1.2 million paid by the buyers.
In 2023, a High court judge ruled that the developer was entitled to a forfeited sum of $380,000, which was 20 per cent of the purchase price.
On Nov 6, the Court of Appeal ruled that the developer did not have the contractual right to the forfeited sum of $1.2 million, which amounted to 63 per cent of the purchase price, was not reasonable as a deposit.
The judges disagreed with the lower court that the developer could forfeit part of the deposit. The apex court said the reasonableness of a deposit must be assessed at the time the contract was made.
But the Court of Appeal ruled that the developer was entitled to retain $357,000, which had been paid as an option fee under a separate contract. The decision meant that Ms Li and Mr Li would get back $743,176.11 in total, after accounting for other payments.The developer was ordered to pay legal cost of $60,000 to the pair.
(Source: The Straits Times)