CSA - collective sales agreement : This document will run into pages & pages of fine print. What should SPs look for to safeguard their interests ?
Pls contribute your opinion (preferably in point form for easy understanding). Thank you :))
Latest update
• Teresa Ville Protem Sales Committee (TVPSC) met on August 25, 2007.
• In responses to invitations to 5 Property Agents and 5 Legal Consultants, there was positive response only from following property Agents
o Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL)
o Huttons
• None of the invited Law firms accepted their invitation.
• In last week of August 2007, a number of amendments in the Law governing process of Collective Sales were proposed. These proposed changes also include process of selection of Property Agents and Law firms.
• On recommendation from one of the subsidiary proprietors, an invitation was sent to a Law firm named De’souza Tay & Goh, who agreed to meet.
• On September 1, 2007, all 3 above mentioned firms met TVPSC members.
o De’souza Tay & Goh law firm presented their credentials and briefly explained salient points of proposed changes in Law. As per their view, Teresa Ville Protem sales committee shall be deemed as lawful, as it was formed in a duly convened EOGM.
(This is one of the requirements in proposed changes in Law. )
o JLL had a discussion with TVPSC members, who suggested that they should wait till new Law comes in force, before proceeding further.
o Huttons, gave a formal presentation on their experience and proposal to act as the Marketing Agent..
• Following TVPCS members submitted their resignation as committee members, due to work commitments –
1) William Phua (August 20)
2) Jacqueline Boudeville (August 24)
3) Philip Ang (September 9)
4) Kum Kong Chan (September 13)
In meeting of August 25, members unanimously agreed that since there were sufficient number of committee members, instead of looking for replacement, committee would continue to function with remaining members.
• Despite proactive efforts to invite more Property and Legal firms, there was not much success in getting positive response. It is a general presumption that most of Property Agents and LawFirms are waiting for the new Law to come in force (expected in October 2007). They might like to study impact of new law on scope of their role, responsibilities and costs before giving a serious proposal.
It is therefore decided that instead of evaluating only limited number of candidates and proceeding further, they should wait till the new Law is in place.
TVPSC shall now meet, only after the New Law is in force and shall proceed as per the provisions of new law.
Thank You..
Update...
A quick update
EOGM was convened on 28 July Saturday at 3:00 pm at Function Room 2&3 in TeresaVille, & following :
(1) 59% quorum was achieved
(2) 76% of the quorum voted "FOR" collective sales.
(3) A Reserve price of 850+ million for the entire estate was fixed by majority vote. (proposed 800+, 850+, 900+)
(4) A sales Committe of 15 members was selected & endorsed.
Any comments/views, please share in the post below. Cheers !
EOGM was convened on 28 July Saturday at 3:00 pm at Function Room 2&3 in TeresaVille, & following :
(1) 59% quorum was achieved
(2) 76% of the quorum voted "FOR" collective sales.
(3) A Reserve price of 850+ million for the entire estate was fixed by majority vote. (proposed 800+, 850+, 900+)
(4) A sales Committe of 15 members was selected & endorsed.
Any comments/views, please share in the post below. Cheers !
7 comments:
Make sure the Collective Sale Agreement has
an expiry date clearly stated beyond which ALL terms and conditions and the
validity of the CSA expires as well.
Resident Teresa Ville
.....One common tactic used by agents ...and pro tem committees (if majority of committee are pro-sale) is to keep secret the actual numbers of home owners who have actually signed the CSA. An uncle of ours whose Gilman project was eventually enbloced recounted that they were always told "many residents had signed the CSA except a very small minority like us" ..."so you might as well sign it and join the majority because the Strata Title Board is going to throw out your case anyway". Many owners undecided were swayed by such comments and therefore gave up and signed the CSA
One way for transparency is to have an AGM/EGM to CLEARLY mandate that the numbers of units SIGNING or NOT SIGNING the CSA be made public knowledge and everyone knows the overall sentiment towards the collective sale idea.
resident of 1005
CSA is a contract and one cannot renege it.CSA indemnifies the Sale Committee from any action they take and it gives them total control over any decisions they take.Upon signing, you relinquish any and all rights to them to sell your HOMES.
We can therefore request and have additional clauses that we want to be consulted on 'certain" issues etc depending on what our lawyers can advise.
Rwong/resident Teresaville
THE MOMENT YOU SIGN ON THE CSA YOU HAVE GIVEN YOUR POWER OF ATTORNEY TO THE SALES COMMITTEE TO SELL YOUR LAND AS THEY LIKE. YOU HAVE NO SAY AND YOU WILL NOT BE CONSULTED AND WILL NOT KNOW WHAT IS BEHIND THE SCENE.EVEN THE MARKET PRICE HAVE MOVED UPWARD THEY WILL SELL AT THE LAST PRICE YOU HAVE AGREED. YOU HAVE NO SAY? ALL THE AGENTS, LAWYERS and PRO-SALES COMMITTEE ARE ONLY INTERESTED TO GET THEIR MONEY.
resident
To the resident of 1005 (Anonymous dated May 30 2007 2.14am):
BY LAW, the agent/law firm is required to put up notices in 4 languages, EVERY 8 WEEKS, of the number of owners who have signed on the CSA, and the proportion in % this group represents in relation to the total no of owners. These notices have to be placed in conspicuous places around the estate.
So you can't be 'tricked' by the agents or pressured by them to sign the CSA, since that information has to be updated every 8 weeks or so. Wait for that information and then see how many people have signed or whether the 80% has been achieved.
To Rwong (anonymous dated May 30 2.33am), part of the reason why there is a sale committee is so that decisions need not require the consultation of all owners repeatedly. This would expedite the process (imagine if every decision needs to be made by all owners which means contacting everyone by post again and again etc). However, the implication then becomes:
a. Your SC has to be fair and equitable to everyone, not just themselves. They have to be truly representative.
b. Sometimes the CSA requires that all members of the SC sign the CSA. This automatically excludes any minority representation in the SC. You can insist that such a clause be taken out and that the SC should have someone (or a group) from this blog's posters.
c. You NEED to be very careful when reading the CSA. You NEED to go through the clauses with a microscope and query anything during the various owners' meeting you will have. AND put that information (what the agent/law firm said or refuse to say) onto the blog so people will know.
d. Even more daring - insist that the clause that indemnifies the SC be removed. It makes the SC reckless since they can't be sued.
Regarding Reserve Price (RP), a common CSA clause is one that states that the SC can revise upwards the RP without consultation with all owners, should market conditions improve. But to revise downwards will require an owner's meeting to consult owners. Again, as anonymous of June 5 stated, there's absolutely nothing to prevent an SC from NOT revising the RP, even if the market improves, simply to secure a guaranteed sale. (A lot will depend on the risk-taking profile of the agents; some are risk takers, others aren't.) Some suggestions:
1. Insist on a bimonthly or trimonthly review of the RP, to be done by the agents with justification on why it shd remain as is. (This can't be built into the CSA since the CSA only binds those who signed it)
2. Insist that should the signatures exceed 70%, to trigger an owners' meeting to discuss if the RP should be revised or not. (Some agents will start an expression of interest exercise once 70% is reached, so you need to do the RP discussion before the EOI).
3. Get the SC members to sign agreeing to these conditions. They must be held accountable to their words and deeds as being representatives of all owners.
This might help alleviate concerns about escalating market conditions and the RP remaining stagnant. But ultimately remember, if the RP is not something you feel comfortable with, DO NOT SIGN. Tell this to folks in your estate who may not read English or be internet-savvy (and hence have no access to this blog)
Dr Minority
Thanks to Dr.Minority.We should proceed along this line with respect to the CSA if we are truly working for the interest of the owners.
Rwong/ Resident
Make sure the protem sale committee is NOT ratified by signing the CSA. They should be elected independently and with full knowledge of their financial situation, motivation etc. They are always the silent 3, the lawyer does all the talking. Are they bank managers or baggage handlers?
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