THE owners of 32 low-cost houses at Keetmanshoop are facing eviction over non-payment of their mortgage bond instalments.
In a final reminder to the home owners last week, the Town’s Council says it has no other option but to instruct its lawyers to cancel the loan agreements and repossess their property. The owners have been given until October 31 to pay their outstanding debts in full.Each of the owners owes the Town Council about N$5 000.The loans were granted under the Decentralised Build Together Programme, with amounts ranging from N$11 000 to N$32 000.The Keetmanshoop Town Council’s Chief Executive Officer, Jeremia Shangadhi, said yesterday that the buyers had not paid a single instalment since signing the loan agreements in 2004.A spokesperson for the home owners, Maria Topnaar, admitted that this was true, but said they were advised by municipal official Neville Hupita, who administered the Build Together Programme, not to pay before their transfer deeds had been completed.Topnaar claimed that an unsolved dispute over poor building quality and inflated house prices also contributed to their decision not to pay their instalments.Earlier, the owners protested that they had been charged for features stipulated in the building plans, but which were never installed.These included basic items such as electrical wiring, corrugated-iron roofs, reinforced brick walls and rain gutters.According to CEO Shangadhi, the Town Council had never instructed Hupita to inform owners to delay their bond repayments.”He had lied to the owners,” he said angrily.Shangadhi said the Town Council had offered to cancel the loan agreements after the owners complained about quality issues, but they declined.He said an independent valuator was then called in and the house prices were dropped in line with the valuation.The owners have been given until October 31 to pay their outstanding debts in full.Each of the owners owes the Town Council about N$5 000.The loans were granted under the Decentralised Build Together Programme, with amounts ranging from N$11 000 to N$32 000.The Keetmanshoop Town Council’s Chief Executive Officer, Jeremia Shangadhi, said yesterday that the buyers had not paid a single instalment since signing the loan agreements in 2004.A spokesperson for the home owners, Maria Topnaar, admitted that this was true, but said they were advised by municipal official Neville Hupita, who administered the Build Together Programme, not to pay before their transfer deeds had been completed.Topnaar claimed that an unsolved dispute over poor building quality and inflated house prices also contributed to their decision not to pay their instalments.Earlier, the owners protested that they had been charged for features stipulated in the building plans, but which were never installed.These included basic items such as electrical wiring, corrugated-iron roofs, reinforced brick walls and rain gutters.According to CEO Shangadhi, the Town Council had never instructed Hupita to inform owners to delay their bond repayments.”He had lied to the owners,” he said angrily.Shangadhi said the Town Council had offered to cancel the loan agreements after the owners complained about quality issues, but they declined.He said an independent valuator was then called in and the house prices were dropped in line with the valuation.
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