Several houses in one of the gated communities in Community 20 at Batsona near Sakumono in Accra are about to be pulled down after a court ruling went against the developer of the property, O�sullivan Estates.
However, a stay of execution filed by HFC Bank prevented the buildings from being pulled down.
When City & Business Guide got to the area on Thursday morning, it was informed that two bulldozers which had earlier on stormed the premises ready to pull down the houses, each valued at between $ 55,000 to $ 60,000, had left following an agreement between residents and the party whom the ruling went in favour of.
Residents explained to this paper that the situation was worrying since they bought the properties with their lifetime savings.
A worried female resident and owner of one of the affected properties told this paper that a female lawyer from HFC Bank, mortgage financiers of the properties who had been there earlier, explained that she had pleaded with the team that had come to execute the judgment not to go ahead since they had documents from the law court which prevents them from going ahead.
She further explained that the plaintiffs insisted on carrying out their action adding that the only thing that perhaps saved their properties from being demolished was the request of the authentic stay of execution that was produced to them.Another resident claimed that following the judgement, HFC filed a motion for a stay of execution and further stressed that when the day came for the motion to be moved by the judge in court, the docket was nowhere to be found.
Most of the residents also mentioned that contrary to a radio announcement which seemed to suggest that their properties were bought with loans from HFC bank, only a few of them acquired the property through that system adding that they bought the properties outright from the developer with their hard-earned monies.
The residents concluded that they were prepared to protect their properties with their lives. Charles Matison, General Manager, Business Development, gave the assurance that the demolition will not take place.He corrected an earlier impression on Joy FM that the homes were bought from HFC Bank, explaining that the bank granted mortgages to the residents, so they would buy the homes from Osullivan Estates which he described as a reputable estate developer.
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