SPEEDY WAYS OF RECOVERING UNPAID MAINTENANCE FEE THAT ALL MAINTENANCE OFFICES OF MALAYSIA WANTS TO KNOW. [PART 2]

b.    BY STOPPING OR SUSPENDING THE DEFAULTER FROM USING THE COMMON FACILITIES OR COMMON SERVICES

Paragraph 6(5) Third Schedule (By-Laws) Strata Management (Maintenance and Management) Regulations 2015 empowers the Developer, the Joint Management Body or the Management Corporation to stop or suspend the defaulter from using the common facilities or common services. The said law provides as follows;

“(5) The management corporation may stop or suspend a defaulter from using the common facilities or common services provided by the management corporation, including any car park bay in the common property that has been designated for the use of the defaulter.”

Relying on the above powers conferred on the Developer, the Joint Management Body or the Management Corporation, to alternatively recover the sums due and owing without having resort to the legal actions.

c.     WARRANT OF ATTACHMENT

Warrant of attachment means that an application made to seize the movable properties from the defaulter. The recovery of sums by way of an attachment is actually quite similar to a warrant of attachment as enumerated in Section 148 of the Local Government Act 1976 which empowers the local authority to issue a warrant of attachment and seize any movable property arising from any outstanding charges, maintenance fees and sinking fund which are due and unpaid.

Alternatively, the Strata Management Act 2013 empowers the Developer, the Joint Management Body or the Management Corporation to carry out the Warrant of Attachment to recover sums due and owing. The Warrant of Attachment will be issued by the Commissioner of Buildings. Without the issuance by the Commissioner of Buildings, a Warrant of Attachment cannot be enforced against the Defaulter.

The High Court in the case of Datuk Bandar Kuala Lumpur V. Ho Poh Sim [2015] 5 MLRH 724 held that if the property was locked, the plaintiff should have broken into the apartment to effect the attachment as it is empowered to do so.  

d.    INSTITUTING AN ACTION AT STRATA TRIBUNAL

The Strata Management Tribunal was established under the Strata Management Act 2013 [Act 757] which was passed and gazetted on 08th February 2013. The Strata Management Tribunal came into operation on 01st July 2015 and is governed by the Strata Management (Maintenance and Management) Regulations 2015.

The Tribunal can hear all claims not exceeding two hundred and fifty thousand ringgit. The important purpose of the introduction of the Strata Management Tribunal is to minimize the cost for the parties involved. In the proceeding before the Strata Management Tribunal, the parties cannot be represented by any legal presentation except for the matter involving a complex issue of law and one party will suffer severe financial hardship if he is not represented by the lawyer.

2.     CONCLUSION

Based on the above, it can be concluded that the new Strata Management Act 2013 had provided several options for the Developer, the Joint Management Body or the Management Corporation to recover the outstanding sums from the Purchaser or the Proprietors without having resort to the legal action which can be quite costly.

*The above article is written by Nurul Aida, a Lawyer with Messrs Esther Ong Tengku Saiful & Sree. Kindly feel free to contact us should you have any query.

*You may contact us at:

Address: 51-1, Jalan USJ 10/1A, Taipan Triangle  47620 Subang Jaya, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia.
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