Singaporean mother left homeless
January 25, 2012 by property
Filed under HDB flats and loans
Singaporean mother left homeless
Written by Khalil Adis exclusively for Property Buyer Mortgage Consultants
Madam Bedah Bte Ahmed frustrated due to lack of follow up from HDB officers and a shortfall of $10, 000.
For the past three years, Madam Bedah Bte Ahmed, a senior customer service officer, has been left homeless due to the lack of follow up from the Housing & Development Board (HDB).
Every week, she has been making trips to HDB Hub in Toa Payoh requesting for updates from HDB officers.
Madam Bedah’s ordeal began in 2009 when the HDB asked her to downgrade from her four-room flat in Jurong West to a two-room flat due to outstanding payments.
She agreed to do so, signed the agreement with the HDB, managed to sell her flat and managed to get a replacement unit at Choa Chua Kang.
The flat was purchased for $131, 000.
The date of completion for her two-room flat was supposed to be the third quarter of 2010.
However, until now, Madam Bedah has not heard from the HDB.
She is currently staying at her son’s house and does not want to inconvenient him further.
HDB Glitch during transaction period
During the transaction period which occurred in 2009, the CPF Board had allowed Madam Bedah to use $89, 000 from her Ordinary Account on compassionate grounds, while the HDB had agreed to loan her $25, 000.
However, there is still a shortfall of $10, 000.
Madam Bedah had asked the HDB to increase her loan.
However, the HDB said they cannot increase her Housing Loan Eligibility (HLE).
She even tried to take a personal loan but was ineligible as most banks do not provide loans for 2-room HDB flats and due to her income bracket.
“I do not have the money. The glitch came from their side. A lot of banks cannot give me personal loan as I do not earn $30, 000 a year,” says Madam Bedah.
Madam Bedah said it was only after two years from the sale of her flat that HDB asked her what happened to the cash proceeds from her flat.
“I used part of the proceeds from the sale of my flat to pay off my agent’s fee and other outstanding loans. Shouldn’t the HDB follow up on my case since day one? Why now when two years had lapsed?,” she asked.
At wit’s end
Last week, Madam Bedah went to HDB Hub again requesting them to deduct the $10, 000 from her CPF on a monthly basis as she is still working and receives CPF contribution from her employer.
However, they never got back to her if this option can be explored.
Madam Bedah has even sought help from her MP Grace Fu.
Recently, she went to see Mr Pritam Singh from The Workers’ Party to appeal on behalf of her to the HDB.
The working mother said she does not know what to do next although she is currently gainfully employed.
“The HDB kept passing my case file from one officer to another and appears not to take my case seriously. It is not that I am not working and unable to pay off the extra $10, 000 via my CPF. I am trying to help myself and my family but it seems the HDB is taking my situation lightly. At the end of the day, my family would like to have a place of our own,” she says.
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