Aubrey Stewart | Who protects the homebuyer?

Here is an issue that I believe deserves greater public attention and serious consideration through government policy and regulation.

Imagine spending months trying to buy your first home. You find a unit in a new development, agree on a price and hire an attorney. Drafts of the agreement for sale are exchanged. You arrange your mortgage, pay legal and valuation fees, and begin the purchasing process. Everything seems to be going well. Then, out of nowhere, the developer decides not to proceed. Why? Someone else has offered more money and is willing to pay cash. Just like that, months of planning, time and money are lost.

In property markets abroad, this is called gazumping. In Jamaica, there is no specific statutory prohibition against it, and withdrawing before a binding contract is concluded is generally lawful. That tells us much about who our real estate laws protect and who they leave exposed.