Lawyer ‘didn’t know’ Hong Kong flats had never been rented when drafting sales agreements, court hears
Veteren real estate lawyer claims he was unaware that law to combat sales malpractice applied to decade-old development in Sham Shui Po
A real estate lawyer involved in drafting sales agreements for unsold residential units denied knowing a law to combat sales malpractice would apply to the flats, Kwun Tong Court heard on Thursday.
Darin Leung Wai-yuen, who gave evidence in the city’s first prosecution against an alleged breach of the Residential Properties (First-hand Sales) Ordinance, told the court the decade-old development Full Art Court had sold eight of its 35 units before 2000.
No 1 Team Limited, a subsidiary of Tung Chun Soy Sauce, allegedly failed to provide hard and electronic copies of the sales brochure and price list for the remaining flats in the Sham Shui Po project in 2014 – after the implementation of the law.
The company earlier pleaded not guilty in the same court to a total of 19 charges relating to sales practices.
Fourteen accused the developer of entering into a preliminary agreement without certain provisions.
The developer was also accused of failing to provide information forms to the buyers.
Leung said he was instructed to draft sales agreements for the unsold flats and followed the procedures for checking the ownership of the units.