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The Housing Department (HD) spares no effort in combating abuses of subsidised housing.
A Home Ownership Scheme flat owner, two Private Sector Participation Scheme flat owners and two finance companies have been convicted for the offence of unlawful alienations.
A spokesman for the Housing Authority (HA) said today (December 31) that the cases were heard in Eastern Magistrates' Courts on December 29. Three subsidised housing flat owners charged two subsidised flats at Siu Lung Court in Tuen Mun and Chevalier Garden in Sha Tin respectively to two finance companies by way of loan agreements, without paying a premium to the HA or obtaining prior approval from the Director of Housing. They were prosecuted for the offence of unlawful alienations. Eventually, all defendants were convicted by the Court. The three subsidised housing flat owners were ordered to pay fines of $5,000 each and the two finance companies were ordered to pay fines of $8,000 each.
Under the Housing Ordinance, it is an offence for a subsidised housing flat owner to unlawfully mortgage, charge, assign or otherwise alienate their subsidised housing flat without paying a premium or obtaining prior approval from the Director of Housing, and transactions under such will be void. Under Section 27A of the Housing Ordinance, a void alienation under Section 17B is an offence and the offender is liable to a maximum fine of $500,000 and imprisonment for one year. All owners of subsidised housing flats with the premium unpaid should observe and strictly comply with the alienations restriction stipulated in the Housing Ordinance in refinancing their flats, so as to avoid being prosecuted for the offence of unlawful alienations.
Ends/Thursday, December 31, 2015
Issued at HKT 15:57
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