Widow loses court fight to remove daughter as HDB flat co-owner

A 68-year-old widow has lost a lawsuit to remove her eldest daughter as a co-owner of a Housing Board flat that she and her husband purchased in 1996.

In 2017, Madam Che’som Abdullah and her husband Mohamed Yusope Sidik signed ownership transfer documents to add Madam Qurratu Ain Mohamed Yusope as a joint tenant of the Bedok flat.

This was done so that Madam Ain can take up a housing loan from HDB and bear the refinanced mortgage payments.

Mr Yusope died in 2018.

In her lawsuit filed in May 2022, Madam Che’som claimed that she did not understand the contents of the documents when she signed them.

She accepted that HDB officers had explained the ownership transfer to her in Malay at two meetings, but claimed she did not focus on the explanation as Mr Yusope was having an asthmatic attack.

In a written judgment issued on Jan 17, High Court judge Valerie Thean said Madam Che’som failed to give a convincing reason to show that she did not understand the documents she had signed.

Justice Thean was satisfied that Madam Che’som was sufficiently capable to understand what was explained to her.

The judge said it was rather coincidental that Mr Yusope had suffered an asthmatic attack during both meetings while an HDB officer was explaining the transaction.

Justice Thean added that she was struck by Madam Che’som’s “selective” understanding of the transaction.

The judge said: “It is strange that she would understand only that the refinanced mortgage was to be borne by Madam Ain, but not any of the other details explained by the HDB officer.”

Justice Thean said her conclusion was fortified by the testimony of a family friend, who testified for Madam Ain.

The family friend recalled that in 2018, when Mr Yusope was still alive, Madam Che’som told her she was relieved that Madam Ain had taken over the mortgage, and that the property had been transferred to Madam Ain.

The flat was bought by Madam Che’som, a housewife, and Mr Yusope, a road sweeper, for $218,000.

Mr Yusope paid a sum of $51,000, while the remainder was financed through an HDB mortgage under their joint names. 

The couple have four children. Madam Ain, their eldest daughter, is a property agent with some 23 years of experience.

In 2016, when Mr Yusope’s health deteriorated and could no longer work full-time, the couple turned to Madam Ain for help to lower the mortgage payments.

At the time, Madam Ain had been staying at the flat after her second divorce.

Madam Ain found out from HDB that she could take up a loan for not more than $42,900, to be repaid over 22 years with a monthly instalment of $214.

On Feb 18, 2017, a meeting was held at the HDB Bedok branch.

There, Madam Che’som, Mr Yusope and Madam Ain signed an application for HDB to approve the transfer of ownership of the flat from the couple as joint tenants to all three of them as joint tenants.

At a second meeting on May 3 that year, all three signed another set of documents to finalise the transfer.

In 2018, a series of events led to family discord over ownership of the flat.

Early that year, the couple’s eldest son Is Haans moved back to the flat after his marriage failed.

Madam Ain remarried in May, and her husband, Mr M. D. Naser Salleh, also moved into the flat.

On Sept 18, Mr Yusope died.

The two women have differing accounts of the facts surrounding the dispute.

Madam Che’som claimed that she and Mr Yusope had wanted to only reduce the loan repayments and had not understood the implications and details of the reduction. 

She claimed there was no intention for Madam Ain to be included as an owner of the flat to achieve this.

She said she and her husband discovered that their daughter had been included as a joint tenant only after Madam Ain said she was going to marry Mr Naser.

She said they were concerned that the property may be inherited by Mr Naser instead of their other children.

Madam Che’som said the couple wanted to sell the flat to buy a smaller one, and distribute the net proceeds equally to their children.

However, they were told by HDB that they could not sell the flat without Madam Ain’s consent, and that they could not effect any transfer until the minimum occupancy period of five years had lapsed. 

Madam Che’som said she told Madam Ain that she wanted to add Mr Is Haans as a joint tenant, but her daughter rejected the proposal and quarrelled with her.

After the quarrel, Madam Ain and her husband moved out of the flat.

On the other hand, Madam Ain contended that her father had planned for her to take over the property and that Madam Che’som was agreeable to this plan.

Madam Ain said in November 2018, after Mr Yusope died, her mother repeatedly tried to get her to agree to sell the flat but Madam Ain refused.

She claimed this was because Madam Che’som wanted to get remarried to a man who already owned an HDB flat.