Experience with Canceling SMDC Condo (and getting refund thru Maceda Law)

Hi. I would like to share our experience in canceling our SMDC condo and claiming our 50% refund through the Maceda Law. I am sharing this here because it might help others who are also in the process of refunding or contemplating canceling their condo units.

TLDR: We asked for a refund, and they approved only 43%; we contested their approved amount, and they approved 50%.

We have been paying for our condo's downpayment for about 4 years now, but we decided to voluntarily cancel it and ask for a refund. So here is the timeline of events.

• Dec 10, 2024 – We called SMDC customer service to cancel our condo purchase. They emailed us the requirements, which we completed, notarized, and submitted the same day.
• Jan 8-9, 2025 – We followed up via email and phone. Customer service assured us of an update within the week.
• Jan 13, 2025 – We received confirmation that the cancellation was being processed, with a 90-working-day timeline.
• Jan 17, 2025 – SMDC Billings sent a disposition letter, but the refund was only 43% of our total payments. We called customer service to verify our total payments and emailed SMDC Billings requesting a detailed breakdown.
• Jan 27, 2025 – SMDC Billings responded that they couldn't provide a computation as it was for "internal use," citing broker commissions, penalties, and legal expenses. However, they escalated our concern to management.
• Feb 1, 2025 – SMDC Billings sent an updated refund amount—now exactly 50% of our down payment. We're now awaiting the deposit.

We don't know how it happened. But we just asked for an explanation and they seem to have escalated our concerns to management and we got the approval for a 50% refund. Now we're just waiting for the refund to be deposited to our account.

Just sharing this here para sa mga di po nakakuha ng full 50% refund, or as mga mag-aapply pa lang for refund.