Couple to explain $89k renovation debt

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An honorable member of the Coffee Shop Has Just Posted the Following:

What a joke, LTC and got no money?

Quote:
A COUPLE will appear in court today to explain why they allegedly failed to pay $89,000 owed to their neighbour after they asked him to rebuild their home in the style of an English country house.

Air Force Lieutenant-Colonel Ng Boo Han and his wife, Madam Audrey-Ann Koo Oi Lian, are being sued by retiree Edward Teo Boon Hiang, 61, who claims the sum is outstanding.

In turn, the couple have lodged a counter-claim for $200,000 - saying Mr Teo failed to complete the project and left it in dire need of rectification work.

Two other witnesses, a surveyor and a timber specialist, are expected to take the stand at the Subordinate Courts as the defendants' witnesses tomorrow and on Friday.

When the trial started in April, the court heard that the couple had allegedly praised Mr Teo for his work on his double-storey corner terraced house in Jalan Machang and asked him to rebuild theirs in a similar style.

Lt-Col Ng and his wife own a single-storey corner terraced house a street away, on Jalan Kerayong.

Mr Teo had estimated the cost to be $350,000 and had agreed to take on the project as his neighbours had agreed to give him "free hand" in it.

Mr Teo had also thought that he could make a small profit from the project, which started in January 2011 and was due to be completed in August that year. But he told the court that he could not meet the deadline because the couple had allegedly made his job "impossible" by demanding work that had not been agreed upon.

His lawyer, Mr Chia Boon Teck of Chia Wong LLP, told the court that many of the couple's demands were "unreasonable", as the contract signed between Mr Teo and the couple did not state details of the materials to be used.

Lt-Col Ng and his wife allegedly wanted different materials from those used in Mr Teo's home, said Mr Chia. The court also heard that the couple had accused Mr Teo of using inferior quality timber, even though it was the same type he had used for his house. Mr Teo told the court that despite paying him to build a "simple rustic house", his neighbours allegedly demanded a contemporary, top-notch property and decided to "pass on the cost to him".

The couple apparently paid Mr Teo $320,000, but the outstanding amount that Mr Teo claims the couple still owe him includes cost of the extra work which they allegedly asked him to carry out.

They are represented by Mr Gwee Boon Kim and Mr Freddie Neo of Hoh Law Corporation.

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