One sold despite pleas by owners of 21 units
28/07/2007 The Star

OWNERS of 21 apartment units along Jalan Penang Free in Penang pleaded to the public not to take part in an auction of their homes.

However, much to their disappointment, one unit was eventually sold in the exercise on Saturday.

It is learnt that the new buyer made a successful bid for the unit at a price that was lower than its market value.

The auction on Saturday was the sixth since the units went under the hammer since 2005.

The distressed group of owners who made the plea were claiming that they unknowingly became “secondary” buyers when the developer allegedly sold the units to a subsidiary before selling them the same units.

They claimed that when the subsidiary company failed to settle its bank loans, the units were put up for auction.

At a press conference organised by state DAP secretary Danny Law recently, retiree Yeap Phek Hong, 61, said the “secondary” batch of owners had paid between RM150,000 and RM170,000 for the units.

“I bought mine in 1998 for more than RM150,000.

“But now they are going to auction off the unit for only RM90,000.

“I hope nobody would bid for the apartments,” she said.

Yeap was among more than 10 owners who were present at the press conference.

Law said he had helped residents to lodge reports with the police’s commercial crime division.

“These are genuine cases of criminal breach of trust,” he said. The developer could not be reached for comment.