| THIS is a tale of what can happen when you want not one or two but three bites of the cherry.  | | Madam Rosani has stacks of boxes of her belongings in the cluttered flat she shares with her mother. --Pics/HEDY KHOO | Madam Rosnani Amir, 47, bought and sold two subsidised HDB flats, making a profit. Now she wants to buy another flat with an HDB loan. But she doesn't qualify because anyone who has already enjoyed two HDB subsidies can't get another one, in fairness to others who have yet to take their first bite of the cherry. She can't rent an HDB flat either because they are subsidised and the cherry is out of reach for those who've already had two bites. She's been squatting in her mother's rented HDB flat but she isn't listed as an occupant. So they are breaking the rules (to prevent abuse of subsidised rental flats). If Madam Rosnani continues to do so, her mother will lose the flat. But is all this of her own making? You decide. TOOK HDB LOAN The patient care assistant nurse in a hospital used to live in a three-room HDB flat in Tampines Street 22 with her husband, Mr Amir Atan. They bought the flat in 1983. The new flat was registered under her name and they took an HDB loan to buy it.  | | Madam Rosani (in white shirt) and her mother Madam Mah Ali. The 76-year-old grandmother sleeps in the kitchen of her rented one-room flat for privacy. | They sold it and bought a new five-room flat in Tampines Street 71 in 1995 again with an HDB loan. Then, she separated from her husband in 2004. Later that year, she began staying with her mother, Madam Mah Ali, 76, in her one-room rental flat at Chai Chee Avenue. Madam Mah rents the flat at $45 a month. Madam Rosnani has two sons, aged 23 and 18, and a daughter aged 15. Last year, she sold her second flat. She had hoped to rent a one-room flat last year and approached her MP, Mr Sin Boon Ann, for help. EXPENSIVE She said it was expensive to rent a three-room flat, at about $600 a month, as she earns only $700 a month. Her son earns $800 a month working in a bakery. She claimed although she got $24,000 of the total profits from the sale of both flats, she spent the money to clear debts, such as her son's phone and Internet bills which exceeded $1,500. 'I owed family and friends money before I got the profits and have repaid them. ' This could not be independently verified. 'I did not work for six months because I could not find a job. I have nothing left,' she said. She showed us her correspondence with HDB. Last March, HDB replied saying that anyone who sells two flats bought directly from HDB in the open market will be barred permanently from renting or buying another HDB flat. That month, she appealed to HDB to grant her a loan to buy a resale three-room flat for her and her kids. But HDB's resale operations unit replied last April that she was no longer eligible because of the two subsidies she enjoyed from her previous flats. It also cited that she was earning about $1,000 which would be insufficient to support her family and that she was 'not financially ready to buy a flat' at that time. That department also suggested in the letter that she continue 'staying at your mother's rental flat'. Then, things got difficult in January this year. Said Madam Rosnani: 'Someone complained to HDB that I was staying with my mother. An HDB officer visited my mother's flat and told her that I had to leave or she would lose the flat.' On 20 Jan, HDB sent her mother a letter saying that Madam Rosnani and her children had been staying in the flat when Madam Mah was staying in Johor Baru. Madam Rosnani said her mother goes there to visit Madam Rosnani's sister who married a Malaysian and is now a Malaysian citizen. HDB said that her mother was not allowed to house anyone other than the authorised occupiers listed in her application forms. If she was found to be flouting the rules, HDB would terminate the tenancy. NOT FAIR Madam Mah approached her MP, Mr Tan Soo Khoon, for help and he approached HDB on her behalf. Having reconsidered her request to allow her daughter to stay there, HDB said it could not agree to it as it would not be fair to other eligible applicants waiting for the allocation of such flats. And in March this year, they issued Madam Mah a notice to quit, meaning she has to hand over her flat by 31 Mar. After Madam Rosnani asked for an extension, HDB has given them time till this month. Now she does not know what to do. Her mother's flat is stacked high with boxes from Madam Rosnani's flat. Her eldest son sleeps on the floor next to the sofa in the living room; her younger son sleeps on the floor next to the double-decker bed; her 15-year-old daughter sleeps on the top deck, and Madam Rosnani sleeps on the lower deck. Her mother sleeps in the kitchen because she prefers to sleep on the floor. The lack of privacy has led to her children arguing over the use of the toilet. They also have difficulty finding their things among the clutter. Said her daughter, Auni Amirah: 'It's a small flat and there's no freedom. It's difficult for me to change clothes.' Said Madam Rosnani: 'It's very congested but I have no choice. My children are very uncomfortable and they always go out because they don't want to stay in. 'It's very stressful staying here.'
HDB: It wouldn't be fair to those who need rental subsidies MADAM Rosnani can stay with her mother for now, but she will have to move out, said HDB. And she can't rent an HDB 1-room flat as she has already enjoyed HDB subsidies not once, but twice. In an e-mail reply to The New Paper's queries, an HDB spokesman said rental flats are meant for the lowest income group who are unable to buy their own flats and the rents are heavily subsidised. He added those who have sold two subsidised flats in the open market would have already enjoyed two housing subsidies. And if they are allowed to rent a flat from HDB, they would be enjoying yet another subsidy. Said the spokesman: 'This would not be fair to others who need subsidised rental housing most, many of whom have not even enjoyed the first housing subsidy.' ROUTINE CHECK He added: 'When Madam Rosnani enquired if she could get an HDB loan if she bought another HDB flat, she was advised that, given her current financial position, it was not financially prudent for her to buy a flat at that time. 'Since she told our officer that she was staying at her mother's flat temporarily, we advised her to continue staying there in the meantime.' He said that when HDB did a routine check at the Chai Chee flat, it was found that her mother was not occupying the flat and Madam Rosnani, who was staying there, was not a permitted occupier. The HDB officer advised her mother to move back into the flat. He said Madam Rosnani had asked for an extension to stay there until she finds a room to rent from the open market. HDB has given her time till this month. | 
