Abandoned site, no land title, incomplete land conversion, inadequate communication from the liquidator: all reasons why the Genting Valley bungalow lot purchaser feel powerless in resolving their current property deadlock.
Their visions of a dream home in the 724 acre Genting Valley (GV) Resort scheme, launched 10 years ago, were crushed when the developer went into liquidation in 2007.
Purchasers met at the abandoned show unit of Genting Valley Resort
About 500 purchasers, many of them who paid 80 percent of their plot values, now risk having their designated land sold to others by the liquidator before they can obtain their land title.
In 2007, the liquidator HLB Ler Lum sold 500 acres of the undeveloped plot with a minimum price of RM1 per square foot without disclosing the details of land involved.
“We (the purchasers) paid RM12-20/sq ft between 2000-2003. We don’t understand why the land was sold so cheaply (in 2007),” the pro-tem committee chairperson of GV purchaser group, Bob Steedman, said.
Bob, who bought a plot under the “Malaysia-My Second Home” program, said the liquidator did not provide them the information of the land sold, making some purchasers furious about their land status.
Moreover, the land was sold to a RM2 company.
“Earlier this year, our group managed to identify a developer who was willing to purchase about 150 acres of the undeveloped land at the same price as that liquidator sold at,”
“In our proposal, the developer will give the bridging financier (liquidator) as they would have obtained from the RM2 company. But it was rejected by HLB (Hong Leong Bank).”
He said if the purchaser group’s proposal commenced, their ideal developer would commercialise the 150-acres land and use that as the revenue stream to fund rehabilitation of the existing bungalow plot.
“Our developer will repair and complete the infrastructure of the whole site, and the purchasers will get their plots rehabilitated with no additional cost.”
The 150 acres proposed is in isolated undeveloped land in the scheme, which does not involve any plots the purchasers bought earlier.
He said the proposal is commercially sensible and socially desired as the purchasers, who mainly are retired folks, want to reach a settlement as soon as possible.
Located at Batang Kali, nearby Genting Highlands, the Genting Valley Resort was launched in 2000 and was supposed to comprise a clubhouse, bungalow lots, commercial development and a retirement village resort.
From 2000-2003, about 500 people paid more than RM50 million for the plots of bungalow land, with a promise that the land will get its conversion done before the end of the sale by the developer.
However, the developer- Jade Sand Realty- left the site in 2004. The company was subsequently put into liquidation in 2007.
Dream home now turned into secondary jungle
“The purchasers are left with no legal title. Moreover, more than 300 of us did not have their money passed to the bridging financier- their status as purchasers need not be recognised by the bank (Hong Leong),”
The land is still categorised as “agricultural land” now as the conversion has not been completed.
Standing on the site of their former dream home, the purchasers can’t help but lament at the overgrown brush.
The Selangor state government recently put a hold on all transactions of the GV land seeing that the issue involved incomplete conversion and unclear titles.
The group meanwhile is organising a meeting at the end of May to discuss their next move.
“Obviously most of us had retired. What we want is just a quick and fair resolution for everyone.”
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Jimmy Tan
