Unscrupulous court brokers earn Lukuvi wrath

MAUREEN ODUNGA

LANDS, Housing and Human Settlement Development Minister Wiliam Lukuvi gestures as he speaks with brokers whom he ordered to register for titles and not to carry out transfers of mortgaged properties that have not followed procedures during a meeting with them in Dar es Salaam yesterday. (Photo by Robert Okanda)

LANDS, Housing and Human Settlements Development Minister William Lukuvi has ordered the Registrar of Titles not to carry out transfers of mortgaged properties that have not followed procedures.

In line with the move, the ministry intends to revoke the licences of all brokers operating contrary to the High Court regulations. Mr Lukuvi announced the directive in Dar es Salaam yesterday during a meeting with property brokers, noting that his office has received a lot of complaints on the deception by court brokers in collaboration with some bank officials.

“All mortgaged property transfers from one name to another should be accompanied by a detailed history of the process for sale of property; any incomplete application should be revoked,” Mr Lukuvi directed.

The move will give room for the Registrar to authenticate and ascertain whether correct procedures were taken by the brokers and eventually grant the transfer.

“From now onwards, all brokers should abide by the laws and present the prices at which the property was sold to the Chief Valuer plus a report on the procedures.

“The report that is filed to the bank should also incorporate all the details so that when the 30-day notice is issued, my office will allocate a budget for the Chief Valuer in which prices match the market value,” stressed the minister.

He cautioned bank officials against the tendency of colluding with brokers to plant the buyers while auctioning the properties of the poor people on the weekends at very low prices that do not match market value.

“These businesses are usually conducted on the weekends so that the owners fail to file an injunction at the court,” he noted.

The law requires the lender to respect the wellbeing of the borrower’s auctioned properties to be sold not at less than 75 per cent of their market value. However, in most cases, the brokers have been acting vice-versa.

“Three cases have been filed at the court; one is when brokers went to a property and sold a house worth over 400m/- at around 100m/- and still owed the person 200m/- . This is fraud and theft; I cannot tolerate such kind of abuse,” Mr Lukuvi emphasised.

There are about 87 cases, mostly concerning brokers and bank officials who cheated women and widowers whose husbands used their family homes as collaterals for bank loans. The ministry has the names of all brokers functioning contrary to the law and will soon revoke their licence.

Mr Lukuvi urged the councils to weigh some of the court orders, citing the case of Dodoma whereby 46 houses were to be demolished, noting that they should strike a balance for the better good of the people.

“These people have invested a fortune to build their houses; other measures could be sought to end the conflicts than letting this people end up in misery,” he inquired.

A private property broker with Namic Investment, Mr Jumbe Menye, requested the minister to place a clause on the directives that will foster accountability on both parties. He concurred with the minister that there were some brokers operating contrary to the set laws and procedures.

“Most of us have been abiding to the laws and this directive should really hold accountable those who are destroying our good image,” said Mr Jumbe