Lai (third right) and his legal team for developer Prema Bonanza Sdn Bhd, whose appeal was allowed by the apex court.

PUTRAJAYA: The Federal Court made a clear decision that a 2020 ruling, known as the Ang Ming Lee decision, will only apply to future cases, not to past ones. This ruling has been a point of contention for housing developers, even though they had received extensions to their project deadlines before this landmark decision.
The ruling was delivered by a five-judge panel led by Court of Appeal president Tan Sri Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim. Federal Court judge Datuk Seri Hasnah Mohammed Hashim, who read out the reasons for the decision, clarified that homebuyers cannot use the Ang Ming Lee decision to seek financial compensation from developers who had already been granted extensions before the ruling.
The Ang Ming Lee decision initially ruled that the Housing Controller did not have the authority to extend the completion time for a strata scheme. This provision was struck down, meaning developers must now complete projects within the standard timeframes of 36 months for strata scheme and 24 months for landed individual properties.
In the recent case involving developers Prema Bonanza Sdn Bhd and Sri Damansara Sdn Bhd, both have obtained the extension of time before entering into the sale and purchase agreement and the developers had delivered properties according to the stipulated timeframes in their sale and purchase agreements. Prema Bonanza had been granted an extension up to 54 months and Sri Damansara up to 42 months. Homebuyers however sued because they contend that the controller has no power to vary the completion period and should be completed within 36 months from the date of the sale and purchase agreement.
The Federal Court decided that applying the Ang Ming Lee ruling to past cases would create administrative problems and unfairly impact the housing industry. The court agreed with the Attorney General's view that this would lead to chaos and potential legal issues.
FCJ Hasnah explained that the court was refining the Ang Ming Lee decision, not overturning it. The judges found that the homebuyers' claims, made after the ruling, could be seen as unfairly taking advantage of the situation, especially since they knew at the very beginning that their sale and purchase agreement entered into was not 36 months.
Homebuyers who had settled for liquidated ascertained damages (LAD) from the developers were not entitled to seek more money based on the Ang Ming Lee decision. The court also ruled that claims must be made within six years of signing the sale and purchase agreement (in 2012), and since the claims were made in 2020, limitation period has set in and the claims were dismissed.
Prema Bonanza is represented by Lai Chee Hoe and Ooi Xin Yi and Sri Damansara were represented by Dhiren Norenda. According to Lai Chee Hoe, this is indeed a decision which is long due that will provide some relief to housing developers. In the same context, it aims to discourage purchasers from making unnecessary LAD claims.

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