Potential buyers of real estate properties in Baguio City are being warned to be cautious when purchasing with individuals or groups to be spared from scams or from problematic developers.
The regional offices of the Department of Human Settlement and Urban Development and the Human Settlements Adjudication Commission (HSAC) have advised buyers to ensure the developers they are dealing with have licenses to sell lands or housing units.
DHSUD-Cordillera Director Maria Amoroso said buyers should first check with the agency if the developer they intend to acquire their properties from has a license to sell and if the license is legitimate.
The DHSUD is the government agency that absorbed the functions of the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board and Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council and is now responsible for the management of housing, human settlement and urban development.
HSAC-Cordillera Chief Regional Adjudicator, Atty. Ligaya Haban, echoed the warning, as she shared the concerns of a homeowners’ association whose members have yet to acquire their titles despite their full payment of the property.
At the launching of the Housing Summit, Haban said one of the most common complaints lodged with the HSAC is the non-delivery of titles by condominium or subdivision developers.
Aside from non-delivery of titles, Haban said concerns arise when developers fail to complete the project within the time given them by the DHSUD and buyers resort to asking for refunds.
Earlier at the city council, Haban said they are facing a dilemma as regards the concern of the Saint Thomas Estates Homeowners Association, Inc. whose members are complaining about the failure of Prime Peak Properties to issue them their titles.
She said they intend to ask the Registry of Deeds to cancel the title issued to Prime Peak in favor of the members of the homeowners’ association, but lawyer John Mabutas of ROD-Baguio said the cancelation of titles should come from the Regional Trial Court, pursuant to the Registration Property Decree.
The DSHUD is spearheading the Housing Summit on Oct. 18 to 21 in partnership with the private sector such as the Chamber of Real Estate and Builders’ Associations and concerned government agencies. – Jane B. Cadalig
April 20, 2024
