Horizon Towers en-bloc sale- possible negligence?

The Court of Appeal has finally put an end to the Horizon Towers en bloc sale saga which has lasted over 2 years. The court accepted that the collective sale process was flawed and therefore the collective sale was invalid.

Now that the court has decided that the sales committee has not performed their duties properly, today's Sunday Times newspaper mentions the possibility of lawsuits against them by the other owners. However, the report states that the collective sale agreement signed by all owners agreeable to the sale may contain exemption clauses preventing lawsuits against the committee and their professional advisers and estate agents.

The issue is whether such exemption clauses are valid. They are usually controlled under the Unfair Contract Terms Act and have to be reasonable. Contracts relating to the transfers of interests in land may be excluded from the application of the Act (see Schedule 1). It is not clear
whether the collective sale agreement will be within this exclusion.

Even if the Act does not apply, the next issue is whether any advisers whether real estate or legal owe a duty to explain the risks involving in including exemption clauses in the collective sale agreement.

(Note - the exact judgment of the Court of Appeal is not yet out so the exact breaches of duties on the part of the sale committee are not clear).

(To clarify to those not familiar with the en bloc sale process under Singapore law, for most apartment developments, once 80% of owners agree to sell their apartments collectively, the remaining 20% is bound by law to go along. Since the number of owners will often be more than a 100, (in some cases numbering even 500-1000), a sales committee of a small umber of owners is formed to represent all the owners and to handle the sale process including negotiation with buyers, liasing with lawyers, etc is elected.)