Bias "Contract to Sell"

I sincerely hope that you will take the time to read this post and shed some light on the questions I have on some sections of the Contract for our purchased property.

1. Is it acceptable for the developers to refuse to issue official receipts for all the monthly payments for the townhouse unit that we have purchased? As of this writing they have issued an acknowledgement receipt for the reservation fee paid in 2012 and provisional receipts for 24 monthly payments made from 2013 to 2014. When we have demanded for the official receipt we were told that the official receipts would be issued upon full payment of the property.

2. Is it common practice for Developers to not indicate the date of delivery of the property that was purchased from them? Our contract does not indicate the date of turnover and when we have asked clarification from the developer they simply told us that our contract with them is “open dated”.

3. “Should the buyers fail to pay (2) cumulative monthly payments, this contract shall, by such mere fact of non-payment expire itself and become cancelled without demand therefore/and or necessity of judicial declaration to that effect, being hereby expressly waived and all sums of money paid under this contract shall be forfeited in favor of the developer as liquidated damages etc”. - Does the “Maceda Law” not apply in this case simply because this is what was written in the contract?

4. “In case of controversy in the interpretation of the plans and specifications or in the measurement of the House and Lot, the interpretation of the developer shall prevail” and “The developer reserves the right, before the construction of the project is completed to make any alterations and additions to or omissions from, the plans and specifications of the Project and/or the Deed of Restrictions and the buyer agrees and gives his consent thereto. It is agreed that such alterations, additions, or omissions, shall in no way affect or void this contract or make the developer accountable for any delay in the release of the certificate of title to the house and lot as a consequence thereof.” – How does this provision comply with Section 19 and/or 22 of P.D. 957?

Thank you in advance for your help!

Hello.

1.  It is a common practice.  Keep all your provisional receipts because they will replace it with an official receipt which will show the full downpayment.

2.  Turnover is usually set when the unit is finally finished, when the occupancy permits, tax dec for buildings have been issued.  It cannot be accurately determined at the start of the equity period.

3.  Re: Maceda Law - for 24 payments, refund is 50%.  For less than 24 payments, there is a grace period only before the contract is cancelled.

4.   The alterations must not be totally different from what was sold in the beginning.  For example, if amenities include a pool, and when turnover is effected, there is no pool whatsoever, that is not acceptable and will fall under violation of Sec19 of PD957.

This contract to sell is standard, and the practices you mentioned are common to many developers.  We all have to remember that the one who drafted the contract is the most protected so you have to get the Contract to Sell and have your own lawyer go over it.

When the homeowner is unable to continue payments or unable to provide documents, the provisions of the CTS will kick in.

Hi again maam,

Thank you for your reply.

Follow up question lang po..

Kasi we have been asking our developer for a meeting para mapagusapan at masettle na ung mga pending issue sa purchase namin. Pero pinapaikot ikot nila kami, ang lagi nila sinasabi ay "we will check with our head office kung kelan pde". They also sent us notices to settle the turnover balance but since dinidispute nga namin ung penalty fee we want to sit down and meet with the department in charge whether it is legal/accounting or documentation ng head office nila. Kasi nga sa "head office" nanggaling ung mga letters at notices.

The letters coming from them walang Name, Title ng signatory so I don't know kung sino talaga ang in charge. When I reviewed all of our letters and documents, the signature sa mga notices matches the signature from a document we got from our bank arranging the home loan. It turns out this is the same person we have been talking to. So parang they are using the term "head office" as scapegoat pro sa kanya naman pala galing un mga sulat na nakukuha namin.

I know that I have the option to bring my case to HLURB to force them to meet us pero gusto ko po malaman if this kind of practice nila na nagsisinungaling sila at pinaiikot nila kami para makaiwas sa dialogue, meron po bang gov't agency na pwede ko puntahan to lodge a complaint against them?

Thank you in advance!

Go to HLURB first. Bring all notices.