Tuesday, October 17, 2006
[RealEdge] TodayOnline Forum : HDB buyer not told of loan policy
 This story was printed from TODAYonline | |
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| HDB buyer not told of loan policy Move to make eligibility issues transparency welcomed Monday ? October 16, 2006 Letter from Lim Le-Anne I refer to the report, "Can you afford that loan?" (Oct 13). It explains the need for an eligibility letter before purchasing a new or resale Housing Board flat as part of the initiative to help flat buyers plan ahead financially. I applaud this much-needed move to enable citizens to understand better all policies and costs involved in HDB transactions. A recent experience with the HDB taught me the value of insight and transparency in eligibility issues when exercising housing options. In 2001, to help ease a dire financial situation in his family, my then-boyfriend had his name included as a co-owner of his parent's HDB flat so as to use his Central Provident Fund (CPF) account to service the housing loan. As the family's sole breadwinner, his father's heavy debts had led to a wipe-out of his CPF funds and a possible court seizure of assets. To ameliorate the desperate situation at the time, my then-boyfriend, who had just completed National Service, had no choice but to help. During the process of including his name as co-owner of his parent's flat for a short 10 months, in no way did the HDB inform my now-husband that that would be counted as having enjoyed the HDB's first-time-only concessionary loan. It was only after we had signed the option to purchase our own HDB flat that we were told that my husband is not eligible for the concessionary loan a second time. So it meant that we had to take out a bank loan. This is not fair, as there was no prior disclosure of such a policy. We have put in an appeal to the HDB to reconsider its stance on this issue. We feel we are being unfairly penalised for the board's failure to present its policies adequately to us. We hope the board will look into this matter and continue to be fair and fully transparent so as to enable citizens to make housing decisions with clarity. | |
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// posted by Shajahan @ 10:48 AM 