ST : Quick House move to stop moneylenders from laying claim on flats

Jul 17, 2010

Quick House move to stop moneylenders from laying claim on flats

By Rachel Lin

A BILL to prevent licensed moneylenders from laying first claim to the proceeds of HDB flat sales will be rushed through the House when Parliament sits next Monday.

This will put a stop to the phenomenon of credit companies giving loans to homeowners using their HDB flats as collateral, said the chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee (GPC) on National Development, Mr Cedric Foo.

Currently, a legal loophole allows these moneylenders to file a caveat on the flat, which ensures that they get first bite of the proceeds when the flat is sold.

'Then, when people sell the flats, they get nothing and still have to pay high interest on their loans. Some even become homeless,' Jurong GRC MP Halimah Yacob told The Straits Times yesterday.

These moneylenders advertise aggressively in newspapers and even collude with housing agents, she added.

Minister for National Development Mah Bow Tan told Parliament in April that his ministry was working on measures to curb the activities of these moneylenders.

The progress of next week's Bill will be accelerated with the use of a Certificate of Urgency, which allows all three readings of the Bill to be effected in one parliamentary sitting.

The last time a Bill was expedited through Parliament was during the Sars outbreak in 2003, when the Infectious Diseases Act was amended to provide heavier fines and jail terms for those breaching Home Quarantine Orders.

On Monday, the Minister for Home Affairs will also introduce a Hostage-Taking Bill for its first reading.

The Home Affairs Ministry (MHA) said yesterday the Bill will criminalise and establish extra-territorial jurisdiction over hostage-taking offences. It will also make it easier for Singapore to help other countries extradite offenders.

'The Bill will allow Singapore to give domestic effect to the International Convention Against the Taking of Hostages,' said MHA.

Monday's parliamentary sitting will also see an adjournment motion, filed by Nominated MP Viswa Sadasivan, on the subject of 'looking beyond GDP as a measurement of a country's well-being'.

The motion allows Mr Viswa to speak on his topic for 20 minutes, followed by a 10-minute response from a minister.

When contacted, Mr Viswa said he was motivated by the need to keep up with best practices in developed nations elsewhere as Singapore society becomes more affluent and sophisticated.

Another pressing issue that will be raised by MPs next week is the effectiveness of government measures to ensure that workers travel in lorries safely.

MPs including Dr Lim Wee Kiak (Sembawang GRC), chairman of the GPC for Transport, Mr Yeo Guat Kwang (Aljunied GRC) and Madam Halimah have tabled questions on whether the deadline for the implementation of safety rules should be brought forward.

Also featuring prominently on the agenda are questions regarding the Government's anti-radicalisation efforts and the causes of last month's flash floods.