Written Answer by Ministry of National Development on fraudulent divorces to circumvent the MOP or to avoid buyers’ stamp duties

Feb 3, 2020

Mr Gan Thiam Poh: To ask the Minister for National Development for the past five years, whether there have been cases of fraudulent divorces committed by existing lessees of HDB flats to circumvent the Minimum Occupation Period or to avoid buyers’ stamp duties.

Answer:

The Courts have to be satisfied that there are valid and proven statutory grounds before granting a divorce. We are not aware of any divorces undertaken by HDB flat owners purely to circumvent the Minimum Occupation Period (MOP) or to avoid buyers’ stamp duties.

Following a divorce, the treatment of the matrimonial HDB flat, as stated in the Court Order, is still subject to HDB’s rules. Regardless of whether the flat is to be retained by one party or sold on the open market, the parties must satisfy the prevailing eligibility conditions. For example, if the parties wish to sell the flat on the open market, they must have fulfilled the MOP by the divorce date. If the MOP has not been fulfilled and neither party is eligible to retain the flat, the parties would need to surrender the flat to HDB. Depending on the circumstances of the case, HDB may consider granting a special exemption for the divorced couple to sell their flat within their MOP.