All unit owners of strata property are obligated to pay maintenance charges which include service charge and sinking fund. Nevertheless, there is one main problem that always arises and that is the failure of a unit owner in maintenance charges payments. This is when you, as the Management Body steps in to recover the outstanding charges. This is according to the Strata Management Act 2013 and the Strata Management (Maintenance and Management) Regulations 2015 (“Regulations”).
Is this happening to you now? Well, this FAQ is prepared for you
In This Article
Question:
I have many parcel owners who don’t pay maintenance fees, what do I do?
Answer:
Management Committee shall serve Form 20 provided under Regulation 31 of Strata Management (Maintenance and Management Regulations) 2015 to any parcel owners who default their payment for maintenance fees. If there is no payment within 14 days, please approach your solicitor and prepare the following documents (Latest Statement of Account that consists of the name of the owner and the last known address). Your solicitor will then prepare the Notice of Demand (NOD).
Question:
What happens after the 14 days of Notice of Demand (NOD) issuance?
Answer:
Your solicitor will then allocate 14 days to any parcel owner who intended to pay the outstanding amount. If there is no payment within the stipulated time frame, the Management Committee shall entitle to initiate legal action in court.
Question:
How much is a Notice of Demand (NOD) cost?
Answer:
Approximately RM30 to RM50 per NOD
Question:
What is a Writ of Summons?
Answer:
Writ of Summons is one of the legal proceedings in court that enable the aggrieved party to claim their rights against the Defendant (defaulting party). The legal proceeding will be initiated either by way of Writ of Summons or Originating Summons. For this matter, the matter will be usually initiated by way of Writ of Summons. The writ will then be issued by the plaintiff, or the party suing, to the defendant. It requires the defendant to enter an appearance in court if the defendant wishes to defend the claim.
Question:
What are the type of documents that is required?
Answer:
Latest Statement of Account,
Identification Card Number of the parcel owners,
Last known address of the defaulting party.
Question:
What if the parcel owner is not staying in the house?
Answer:
It does not matter whether the parcel owner still resides in the residency or not. Any legal proceeding can still be commenced using any Defendant’s last known addresses. Your solicitor will then proceed with the filing of cause papers for serve by way of substitute service which will involve advertisement in newspaper etc.
(JPN search for now is not available for JMB due to unavailability of any binding documents or agreement etc)
Question:
How long does it take for a summons to be served?
Answer:
It shall take about 2 to 4 weeks for it to be considered as duly served on the Defendants. Once the sealed copy of Writ of Summon has been obtained, your solicitor will then proceed to serve the documents by way of AR Registered Post. The cause papers shall be deemed to have been duly served on the Defendant once the proof of service return.
Question:
What if after the judgement, the parcel owner still doesn’t pay?
Answer:
Issue Notice of Reminder. If there is no payment received within 14 days after the Judgement has been delivered to Defendant, the parcel owner may proceed with execution proceeding such as Judgement Debtor Summon, Writ of Seizure and Sale, Garnishee Proceeding or Bankruptcy Proceeding.
Question:
What are the differences between going to the tribunal and court?
Answer:
